Portraying a Polish-Catholic Concentration Camp survivor now living in Brooklyn 1947, Meryl Streep admirably keeps a haunted look in her eyes--and in her forlorn smile--throughout all the fabricated histrionics of this Alan J. Pakula "prestige" picture. It's a commendable acting job, most especially because nothing else in this vehicle quite comes off. Sophie, struggling with her broken English during her initial days in New York, is 'rescued' (from despair, from hopelessness) by a combustible genius (Kevin Kline), and soon they are reading literature and poetry to each other in his bed. The details of their love-hate relationship come spilling out to a Southern writer (Peter MacNicol) who has rented a room in the same building as the couple. William Styron's book has become an embalmed actors' showcase, with the three principals each doing contemplative-turned-combative bits of character business, to little avail. There are two or three scenes that put enormous demands on Sophie (and Streep the actress), and the woman simply does not disappoint (my favorite was an early flashback scene wherein she attempts to check out a book by Emily Dickinson but doesn't have the author's name right). Still, Pakula paces the melodramatics with funereal solemnity, and the too-careful, too-rigid art direction and cinematography make the proceedings look like a waxworks museum. Kline cannot get a grip on his tortured Nathan, and for good reason: the character is a writer's contrivance (bombast conjured up out of mental illness), while MacNicol has some strong early scenes but eventually plays third-wheel (not an enviable position). Much discussion was made of Streep's letter-perfect accent and her scenes as a prisoner, and indeed she's quite remarkable; however, Sophie isn't allowed to bloom as a person. Streep makes her tremulous and lovely, nervous and chatty while also politely flustered, and there are moments when she's radiant. Unfortunately, there's nothing gripping or substantial in the writing to help the actress carry the weight of a long, heavy Oscar-contender. We understand right away that Sophie is a survivor with an enormous heart...Pakula doesn't give us anything else to ponder except romantic heartbreak tinged with masochism. ** from ****