I have to agree with Robert D.'s review - I simply don't understand all of the very positive reviews. Maybe you have to be Irish or a huge fan of Joyce? Maybe it's because of John Huston's body of work? But after watching The Dead, I have to ask myself, what did I miss? There was nothing offensive in the film. The acting was alright, except for Anjelica Huston's struggle with an Irish accent - she works to hard to get that "lilt" in her dialog. The set was fairly claustrophobic - a dinner party - but again nothing out of the ordinary. There are a couple of songs and a piano recital. I guess if you like the selections they were OK (I did not). It's just that there was nothing distinctive at all about this film. Flat characters, simple dialog, and not much more.
