This film fails a number of levels but the biggest failure is that it lacks any drama. Thanks to the foolish way the story is plotted we already know what happened in the first 5 minutes of the film! Because the story is told both in the year 2000 and in the year 1850 (approx) we know that the "famous poet" has no lasting relationship to the other poet. And we also know (because its a film) that the two Victorian poets HAVE a relationship because otherwise the movie wouldn't have been made. I blame the writer and the director for failing to see that you can't have a drama without giving the audience some reason to care about the characters.<br /><br />I surely didn't care about the two Victorian poets. I also didn't care for either of the two modern scholars. All the characters in the movie were paper thin with nothing but affectations instead of actual personality.<br /><br />If you are going to do an historical film then you have to make the audience care by giving meaning to the lives of the people you are filming. In this film all meaning and drama that was possible in the lives of the Victorians was removed by the constant intercutting of the modern-day scenes. Never, never do this! The constant intercutting of the modern world kept reminding the viewer that the past is dead and the actions by these dead people ultimately made no difference to anybody living today (because if it had, the modern day scholars would know about it).<br /><br />Bottom line: if you are looking for entertainment there is nothing good to say about this film and no reason to watch it. If you are film school student then this should serve as a great example of how NOT to make an historical drama.<br /><br />Lessons: Do not intercut the present with the past. Do not give away the story at the begining of the film.