February 6, 1997 -- This is one of those big, sprawling epic romantic movies like "Out of Africa" that seems to go on forever.

It starts out in the middle, skips to near the end, back to the beginning and back to the end. This sort of thing was a bit of a novelty a couple of years ago when Tarantino used it in "Pulp Fiction." It doesn't work quite as well here, but then Tarantino is a master storyteller.

The central character, Count Laszlo Almasy, is splendidly played by Ralph Fiennes, but he is wearing so much makeup at the end of the film you can't see much expression. It reminds me of the great Whoopi Goldberg line from "Soapdish" ("Actors hate to play coma patients, it limits their range").

Fiennes falls in love with a married woman, Katharine Clifton, played by Kristin Scott Thomas. The tragic love story is played out against the backdrop of World War II and intrigue. Fiennes is later befriended by an Allied nurse named Hana played by Juliette Binoche, who in turn has a romance of her own to think about.

There is also a spy story thrown into the mix, as if the above isn't busy enough. A spy, Caravaggio, played by Willem Dafoe, shows up to question Fiennes and perhaps to seek revenge. The relationship between the two men is interesting, but it seems to me the story tries to cover too much ground. More of a traditional narrative and flashback method with a tighter script would have helped make a more focused movie.

This film won the Golden Globe award as the best film of 1996. It didn't quite make my top 10 list, but it is not bad. It rates a B. If you liked "Out of Africa," you will probably like this. My problem is I didn't much care for "Out of Africa" either.

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