Roger Mitchell's "Enduring Love" has plenty of good things going for it. Adapted from Ian McEwan's creepy and affecting novel, the film boasts a capable cast including Daniel Craig ("The Mother"), Rhys Ifans ("Notting Hill") and the always terrific Samantha Morton as Clair, the matter-of-fact sculptor girlfriend. The opening scene is brilliant; cinematically gorgeous, rich in tension, a lover's picnic is tragically ruined when a hot air balloon plunges from the sky.
What begins as an interesting character study of a man plagued by guilt becomes a mundane thriller. Ifans' over-the-top performance as mentally unstable zealot who becomes obsessed with the hapless hero is reminiscent of Glenn Close's knife-wielding jilted lover in "Fatal Attraction."
