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The film’s intentionally theatrical nature describes the publicly view-able nature of the Russian aristocracy, plainly illustrating the social implications of Anna’s affair. And like Tolstoy’s masterpiece, it gracefully shifts between the many scenes in the complex narrative. But the stylized production does not detract from the precise yet emotional performances by Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Matthew Macfadyen and others.

Though the film tests the limits of its genre effectively, one leaves wondering whether a documentary on these real-life events would have been more entertaining and enlightening. By breaking the fourth wall, the movie sneaks in important information and cheekily establishes a rapport with the viewer. For instance, the film eschews tedious and unrealistic expository dialogue in favor of mini-explanations by celebrities. When something particularly cinematic happens, Ryan Gosling addresses the viewer and tells us whether it did or did not actually happen. Despite the seriousness of the topic, these techniques create a light-hearted tone. But despite the recent flood of biopics and based-on-a-true-story films, the dramatization of this story does not strike the viewer as the most effective narrative choice. If Gosling needs to reveal to us what is real and what is dramatized, wouldn’t it be more to the point if it **** real? And wouldn’t the strange cameos be rendered unnecessary if the movie found a way to explain key points in a way that wasn’t condescending? If nothing visually interesting is truly happening in the narrative (thus the need to add objectified women as eye-candy), why did they think reenacting these scenes would be cinematic at all? Most vexingly, the genre has an obsession with nailing its characters’ idiosyncrasies as if to prove that it’s done its homework. Though each character in this film is undoubtedly eccentric, attempts to characterize them quickly become boring and seem two-dimensional - particularly because none of the five main characters are developed enough to be likable. One of the praises of the movie is its ability to inform while entertaining. However, documentaries like “Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room”, “We’re Not Broke”, and “Inside Job” have proven highly informative as well as engrossing. The subject matter - that of the largest legal robbery of American taxpayers in recent history, and the men who figured it all out - is exciting enough to carry a movie that doesn’t condescend to its viewers, endorse sexism, or invent narrative fluff.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]