STARRING: Nic Cage, Penelope Cruz, John Hurt, Christian Bale, David Morrissey, Irene Papas

WHAT HAPPENS: It's 1941 and in the remote and beautiful Cephallonia, Greece the peaceful existence of the village's fun-loving inhabitants is about to be shattered by the outbreak of war. After the defeat of the Greeks in Albania, by the German-assisted Italians, their country is invaded and the Italians occupy the village. This is much to the disdain of the locals as they see the Italians as defeated cowards who needed the Germans to beat them. In the background of the conflict a love affair begins to play out, with local beauty Pelagia (Cruz) and her husband to be, the childish, Mandras (Bale) becoming torn apart by the war and the newly arrived Captain Corelli (Cage) whose life-embracing charms stir something inside Pelagia. However can their love exist in a world turned-upside by War, which they are fighting for different sides.

ANY GOOD?: Yes but you get the feeling that it's not as good as it could have been or should have been. Unfortunately a lot of this is due to Nic Cage and his sub-'allo, allo' accent, Cage is a fantastic actor, whose been sublime in some superb films but here he seems misplaced and miscast. However it is not only Cage, as the other actors don the accents with uncertainty in how there is communication between the Greeks and Italians through Mediterranean English. If this is confusing for the cast the how do the audience feel? Although there is a mountain of flaws and points to criticise and question 'Captain Corelli's...' is still a good film with many enjoyable points to praise. The scenery and cinematography is serenely beautiful, Bale, Hurt and Cruz are wonderful and when the German's turn up and all hell breaks lose the film shifts into top gear. Though for a love story there was a severe lack of chemistry between Cruz and Cage and the whole affair seemed rushed, it was too much of a 500-page book summarised for an English textbook. Good, worth seeing but not one of the films of the year and in all honesty a bit of a disappointment.

BEST BIT: As the War nears its end the Germans invade Cephallonia and fight against their allies, the Italians, in some of the most moving war scenes committed to film.

INTERESTING FACT: When they were filming Captain Corelli's on location in Cephallonia the crew would play the game 'spot the book', seeing how many tourists were reading the best-selling novel on the beach while sunbathing. The record was thirty!!!

LIKED IT, TRY: The English Patient, Sense and Sensibility or Shakespeare in Love

RATING: