As with every passing year, people leave us. I was very saddened by the passing on March 18th of the writer-director Anthony Minghella. He directed two of my favorite movies of the 1990's -- THE ENGLISH PATIENT and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. I admired his debut feature, TRULY MADLY DEEPLY, but had some problems with his adaptation of COLD MOUNTAIN and even more with BREAKING AND ENTERING.

I particularly admired Minghella's skill as a writer. He took difficult novels and turned them into compelling films. I'm still annoyed that he did not win the Academy Award for writing THE ENGLISH PATIENT. I read Michael Ondaatje's complex novel and couldn't believe that anyone had been able to turn it into a film, yet Anthony Minghella did. He crafted one of the last epic films -- a genre that is fading faster that celluloid. In many ways he was an heir to David Lean (a fellow Englishman whose centenary was celebrated about one week after Minghella's untimely death).

Minghella skillfully adapted Patricia Highsmith's novel (which had previously been filmed by René Clément as PLEIN SOLEIL/PURPLE NOON) and made some changes that deepened the story. For instance, the character portrayed by Cate Blanchett is Minghella's creation and it's a terrific addition to the tale. RIPLEY divided critics (I put it on my 10 Best List for 1999), and COLD MOUNTAIN further split reviewers. I didn't review it at the time, but I did see it in theaters because I was curious how Minghella would adapt the material. Jude Law was fine but I had problems with the female leads: Nicole Kidman seemed miscast as a Southern belle and, to me,  Renée Zellweger was channelling Marjorie Main with her cornpone hillbilly act as Ruby. I know she won an Oscar for the part, but I think that was more of a consolation prize for losing the Best Actress award the previous year for CHICAGO.

When I reviewed BREAKING AND ENTERING, I may have taken a harsher approach to it than perhaps I shoud have. I rated it a C-, partly because I felt that some of the situations depicted were too schematic and a tad unreal. It may also be that because I had admired Minghella's earlier achievements, I went in expecting something on par with those films. Not everyone can produce a masterpiece each time out, I know realize.

What's sadder about his passing is that there was so much lost potential. Although he had branched out to producing (forming a partnership with Sydney Pollack that included the Oscar-nominated MICHAEL CLAYTON), Minghella still had plans to write and direct additional work. He had completed THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY before his death from a hemorrhage following cancer surgery.