The Republic of Love sadly confirms my suspicion that Deepa Mehta is a director of limited talent and vision. The film is dramatically and emotionally inert - a far, far cry from Carol Shields source novel. Certain sequences - for example, the lamentable nonsense about mermaids in the museum - are little short of embarrassing, with Mehta seemingly unable to construct convincing relationships. Certain sets look as if they were built on very limited budgets. The whole thing isn't helped by weak decisions in the casting department. Emilia Fox is cold and fails to convince us of any of her character's passion. Bruce Greenwood struggles to convince us of his heterosexuality. And Edward Fox is - well - just plain terrible. His accent sounds as it was trained at the Dick Van Dyke School of Elocution. A major misfire. Avoid.
Review of The Republic of Love
