Charlotte Gray

Turning Sebastian Faulks's richly detailed novel into a film would have challenged any filmmaker: His tale of one woman's self-discovery during the darkest days of WWII is filled with the kind of psychological depth and historical background that isn't easily transferred to the screen. Director Gillian Armstrong may not have been able to retain a lot of what made the novel such a rewarding experience, but she fashioned the basic plot into an old-fashioned, if slightly glammed-up, wartime melodrama. At the height of the London Blitz, young Charlotte Gray (Cate Blanchett) leaves her native town of St. Andrews, Scotland, for bombed-out London; she's not quite sure what ...