It has often been said that some novels should never be made into movies. Although I have never read Snow Falling on Cedars, I can tell that this story would have been better on paper.

Scott Hicks follows his expert directing debut Shine with this beautiful looking but overstuffed mess based on the book by David Guterson.

Ethan Hawke is a young reporter covering a trial in a small fishing community. It doesn't help matters that Hawke was once invoved with the wife (Youki Kudoh) of the man on trial for murder. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn how the two met and, eventually end their courtship.

There is far too much going on in this story. At one moment it's about forbidden love and another it's about racial predudice. Bookending the story is the trial that offers yet another tedious subplot. This just isn't the type of story that translates to the screen.

Hicks directs with poetic style but doesn't get the dramatic depth needed by his actors. Hawke spends most of the picture in brooding silence while Kudoh spends most of the time crying and evoking a unconvincing look of fear.

This is all a shame because Snow Falling on Cedars offers breathtaking cinematography and a beautiful score by James Newton Howard. In the end, many of the themes flowing throughout this story seemed to work much better in End of the Affair. Snow Falling on Cedars looks good but feels hollow.