The Crucible is an important play and a very good one. But the self-important approach this film gives Miller's script is devastating. Primarily, the acting is so overwrought as to be nearly laughable. Only Joan Allen and Daniel Day-Lewis, two of the best actors in the business, remain unsullied. The rest not only chew the scenery, they regurgitate it. Try it and see -- everyone else in here seemed to enjoy it.