I’m being very charitable giving this movie a decent review. I was bored – deeply bored – with well over half of it. But there’s enough good there that is excuses some of my issues… but it’s a squeaker.

The flick stars Matt Damon and Adam Driver as two very convincing medieval French knights/noble men. So very convincing. They were once friends but have a falling out after Driver either rapes or makes semi-reluctant sweet love to Damon’s wife. We get the story from each of their points of view. The wife is played by Jodie Comer and she has her own take on the story.

I was not remotely interested in the lives of either of the men and found their stories tedious and repetitive. And then I had to sit through the story again from another point of view and it was painful. And on the third round, I realized I was actually getting kind of interested in the final version of the story… but mainly the character and what she has to deal with.

Jodie Comer’s character – the final version of the truth – is actually interesting. They give her more to do and say about the running of the medieval castle and that’s interesting. Her take on how poorly the system of laws is also has that morsel of outrage that finally gave me something to care about.

I think part of my problem boils down to the story structure. Adam Driver’s character is a piece of shit regardless of whose story you believe. Was he a vile rapist or just an adulterer? No version of the story makes him a good guy, not even his own. As far as Matt Damon goes, his version of the story is largely irrelevant since he doesn’t know what happened at all yet we have to sit through it.

And maybe that’s the point of the movie… regardless of which version told, Driver’s a pig and is probably gonna get away with it and Damon is afforded more protection under the law than the actual victim. Because, y’all, medieval France had a very regressive legal system. And if you listen to the dialog and think to yourself, “gosh, they sound modern” I think you might be getting the point.

And all of this is carefully thought out and clever… each version of the story gives us a unique acting and writing challenge for each actor. And that’s a good exercise in writing, directing, and acting. But… I can’t help but say I found the majority of it in execution rather dull.

I didn’t find enough of it compelling that I’m mainly giving it a decent score from simple admiration at the attempt. Jodie Comer’s version of the story and acting chops does the final bit of heavy lifting. This didn’t work for me, but it was a solid attempt.

Score: 76