Rating: 
Summary: Not Really About An Affair!
Review: Although I love both lead actors in this film, Fiennes and Moore, I wasn't expecting to like the movie that much. After all, who wants to watch some dreary WWII affair stumble to an end for 2 hours? Well, much to my suprise that is not what the movie is really about at all! The movie is about the strength of religion and faith, about making bargains with God, especially a Catholic God. It is about how love, betrayal and infidelity can get caught on the shoals of bargains with God. I should have suspected this because Graham Greene wrote the novel and he was always predominantly concerned about his Catholicism. Probably no better screenwriter/director could have chosen this for his own adaptation: Irish Catholic Neil Jordan of "The Crying Game" fame. It is a beautiful but sad movie and Fiennes and Moore shine throughout it. I'd be tempted to say it's their best work but then I start thinking of their other work, all of which is excellent too. We can only hope that they both have really long careers in film.
Rating: 
Summary: overwrought melodrama
Review: The End of the Affair is a shallow, period piece capturing the heightened emotions and danger of WWII London during the blitz. The main story is the love affair between Ralf Fiennes and Julianne Moore which inextricably develops during a meeting at a dinner party. Each of the charachters seems to be familiar as they are never fully developed in the movie - the angry writer, the reserved diplomat, the amoral yet ultimately devout object of their affection. No new ground is covered here except for some of the explicit sexual imagery, which while pandering to the audience detracts from the seriousness of the movie and subject matter.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-indulgent, melodramatic stupidity,
Review: As a huge fan of Ralph Fiennes, not to mention Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea, I thought it was impossible for this movie to miss for me. But it not only missed, it swung backwards. This is one of the most overmelodramatic, immature, and plainly stupid "romances" I've ever had the displeasure to endure. The plot is exceedingly boring and pathetically infeasible, the characters are flat and hateful, and the dialog is laughably, absurdly moronic. This isn't a good film, or even a fair one. It is, frankly, a painful visit to an embarrassingly self-indulgent, adolescent view of the world of love, and a regrettable mar on the resumes of the talents involved; ironically, the generally fine acting is the only minor saving grace in a movie that, unfortunately, can't be saved by its acting talent. Not even close. That these fine actors could all find themselves in such filmmaking compost together so readily is somewhat shocking. Further, for all of the myth surrounding Graham Greene's synonymous passion and private life, based on the circumstantial evidence that this movie represents (assuming it's at all an accurate reflection of his work, which it likely isn't), one would be forced to conclude that most pre-teens have a more worldly, mature view of relationships. This "romance" is for the connect-the-dots crowd, with a very small number of dots. If you like real romance, along the lines of The English Patient and Wuthering Heights, and you have an IQ over 80, save your money. Save your time. And save what healthy respect you may have for the unconscionably misused acting talent bogged in this forgettable exercise. Pass this film by.
Rating:
Summary: A film about guilt, pleasure, and guilty pleasure...
Review: Coming from the director of "The Crying Game", it is no great shock that "The End of The Affair" takes a deep look into human emotions, such as love, guilt, and all possible combinations of these two words: love with guilt, love out of guilt, etc.This film is a story of three, very different but emotionally interdependent people, two of whom happened to be married to one another. Some people might argue that it is mostly a story about two lovers and their erotic passion for each other. But this is not exactly right. While the three characters happen to be a husband, a wife, and a lover, it is not a typical "love triangle". Also, on top of that, these three people have to deal with religion, faith, and God himself. I'd say, if you remember Stephen Rea in "The Crying Game", look for the deep connection between his role there and here, in "The End of The Affair". Although "The End of the Affair" is a bit similar to "The English Patient" (which I absolutely love, I might add), it is much more complex. In order to fully appreciate this film, you have to be older, married (at some point in your life), and emotionally involved. If you are, then, you will enjoy the story.
Rating:
Summary: A miserable failure
Review: This movie had the Hollywood potential of being a Haunting version of the English Patient, but it didn't even come close. Ten minutes into the movie, you're engaged in an entangled grope fest between Maurice and Henry's wife Sarah, after their meeting in a small aristocratic gathering. It is unclear why they are so drawn to eachother, it's not love, nor attraction. To be blunt, they just seem really sex-starved. And as the plot thickens, we learn not only are they sex-starved, but Sarah is sex-deprived (in her marriage) as well. The movie jumps back and forth between the present and the past. All the while, Maurice tries to deny the existence of God. It takes two miracles, the end of THE affair, and finally a death for him to realize that he's in the wrong. All of which he cowardly shakes off, and seemingly lives on and writes his book. Since the "supposed" love between Sarah and him was so strong, I would expect some great revelation or sacrifice from Maurice, but to no avail. I was let down. The portrayal of humanity, of marriage, of love was just a miserable failure.
Rating: 
Summary: Dilution of the Miraculous
Review: Graham Greene's The End of the Affair has been for many years one of my very favorite books, so I was excited when I heard that it had been made into a movie. Hollywood, however, in recent years despises anti-heroes and could not bring itself to make a villain out of Morris, played by Ralph Fiennes, as had Greene. It also diminished the impact of the miraculous that the book brought to the reader, that obvious sense of God's presence and love that Morris so firmly rejected even when it saved his life. This is not to say that this isn't a watchable film: it is only in the last minutes that the film destroys the beauty of Greene's original vision. Fiennes, Moore, and Stephen Lea play their parts very capably: Lea, in particular, acts very capably as the dull, but kind Henry Miles. But as I noted before, the film removes Greene's ironic ending by making Morris too good. In the novel, Morris (who is also the narrator) is the Seducer who can see only evil in the world. Sarah Miles, on the other hand, often sees selflessness when Morris believes himself to be selfish. When his own life is saved by apparent divine intervention, Morris will not see the miracle nor does he appreciate the sacrifice that Sarah has made on his behalf. Following Sarah's death, Morris is faced with what is for him a very frustrating manifestation of God's presence in the reappearance of the once sinful Sarah as a saint who cures the sick! He continues to reject God, however. In the end, frustrated and alone, he admits that God exists and declares his hatred. "Leave me alone forever." The reader is left with the clear feeling that the joke is on Morris. The movie softens the case against Morris. It has him bringing glasses of warm milk to the bedside of the cuckolded husband. He prays that Henry and Sarah be taken care of by God "but leave me alone forever". One gets the feeling that the producers/directors/actors had some of the following motives in mind: * To not make Ralph Fiennes into a villain * To avoid making a film which would be critical of people who fell in love with married people * To avoid making a film which in any way might make Catholic teachings palatable. (For the record, I am agnostic.) * To have a happier Hollywood ending than the book had had. I ended my viewing of the film feeling that I had just seen a remake of The English Patient with a kinder husband and a slightly less sluttish wife. If I could change the last ten minutes of the film and return to it the sense of Greene's irony, I could give it a full five stars. I had to ask "How truly did this represent Greene?" And the answer was "Not very well." Perhaps those who have not read and loved Greene will feel better about this film. It is, without that comparison, an ably acted and filmed love story, if conventional in its treatment of adulterous lovers. To quote Greene speaking through Morris: "That's not what I wrote!"
Rating: 
Summary: Jealousy = Love?
Review: Love stories are great to watch because you usually come out of it feeling inspired and wanting to do something about your own love life, provided of course, the story is not the usual predictable "man and servant girl fall in love, would they be together in the end? (yes)". Fortunately, "The End of the Affair" provides very good entertainment and stirs our minds at the same time. Set in the 1940s, Henry (the husband), suspects that Sara (the wife) is having an affair. He confides with Maurice, an old friend he had not met in a couple of years and invites him to his home to "talk". The conclusion: a jealous husband going to seek a private investigator was ridiculous, but a jealous lover would be more appropriate. Would Maurice act as the lover to help Henry find out what Sara is doing out on her "walks" every day? The jealousy of the lover makes one think of how shallow our own love for someone may be. The unforgettable and rather romantic "I am jealous of this button, because it is with you all day, and I am not" makes one wonder how deep love can get. That's not all. Atheist Sara's life changes when she made a prayer of plea (to whatever that existed) for her lover whom she thought was dead, willing to exchange his life with her not keeping the illicit love affair any longer. This movie is inspirational for those still looking for their true love; catalytic for the ones wanting to rekindle their flames and a good watch for those who just need some entertainment. Do not be confused with the sequencing of the movie for there is a lot of story-telling and the pieces would eventually fall into place at the end. Ralph Fiennes is a sight to behold in this movie, not only for the well-defined bottom but also for his superb potrayal of the man caught in the middle of the storm. How great is the love? Is Henry able to win Sara back in the end? Does she go against her promises to God and go back to her lover? Who would she be with in the end? Watch this delightful movie to find out.
Rating:
Summary: Julianne Moore's Finest Performance
Review: When one looks at the body of "Work" Julianne Moore producted in 1999, one must stop and finally realize Julianne's ability to character act. She truely is remarkable. Five great characters in five different movies. In "End Of the Affair" she was nominated for "Best Female Actor". Her performance in this film, brings her to that level. She is today at the top of her trade. In "End of the Affair" her character Sarah brings out all sorts of emotions in me. This film is my favorite film of 1999. Julianne Moore should have won "Best Female Actor" for her performance in this film. Wow! what film. I can not wait for Julianne's next movie.
Rating:
Summary: the end of the affair
Review: it was kind of strange. the movie was so beautiful, so deep, so sensitive, that i started to cry without control. when it ended, i had to run to the ladies room to continue crying, because i just couldn't stop. it moved me. it touched strings from my soul i didn't know i had. for a moment it was like if my body doesn't belong to me; my feelings were acting outside of me, in a non-voluntary way. i'm in love with ralph fiennes. i saw "the english patient" eight times. i saw "the end of the affaire" five times, and all because of him. for me, he is the greatest actor of the decade, the deepest, the most empathetic with women's feelings. of course moore and rea are great too, but fiennes is just adorable y powerful. the film is a poem, an anthem to love, to passion and a song, a magnificent song to the inner feelings each one of us have deep inside, awaken by the delicated music of nyman, the dedication of jordan and the commitment of the cast.
Rating:
Summary: JULIANNE MOORE DELIVERS
Review: First of all, Neil Jordan's "The End of the Affair" is a superb pice of art. The picture itself is good, but it is Julianne Moore's portrayle of the quiet adultress, Sara Miles, that makes the film exceptional. Moore recieved a 1999 Academy Award nomination for her work, following her nod in '97 for Boogie Nights. Nobody can deny that Moore is one of the greatest actors in the world today. She will no doubt win an oscar in her career, and will certainly recieve a nomination for her work in the upcoming Hannibal. Julianne Moore is the perfect acting machine. Mercy child, see her other performances in "Safe", "An Ideal Husband", "Magnolia", and "The Myth of Fingerprints.
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