Love in the Time of Cholera

In 19th century Columbia, Florentino (Bardem) is a low-born young man who falls madly in love with neighbor Fermina (Mezzogiorno), but cannot have her. Constrained by social and class rules, Fermina marries a doctor (Bratt) and Florentino throws himself into a lifetime of meaningless sexual relationships, but his love for Fermina never truly wanes, even over decades. Based on the novel by Nobel Prize winner G.G. Marquez, the movie loses much of its magic and philosophical quality and ends up being a straightforward, somewhat dull romantic tragicomedy, a soap opera disguised under layers of age-enhancing makeup.