The way they went at it, maybe this should have been called "The Breeder": "The Reader"

Gotta love the laptop and wifi. You may recall I took some time off from blogging when my first kid was born, prompting cries of anguish from ... what, seven readers? Dare I say ... eight? With the second, though, here I am, a mere 27 hours later, sharing my take on what I saw in the last few pre-baby days. At least, until She of the Boundless Radiance tells me to get my a$$ over there and fetch more Jell-O.

(Update: Make that 39 hours later. It wasn't a Jell-O request, but let's just say someone didn't like seeing me hunched over the Dell for more than a few minutes. Nearly 12 hours later, I'm just now getting back to this. So it goes ... )

Even with Kate Winslet showing her goodies, ain't no way Jeff sees "The Reader" in the theater in normal times. The period pieces usually aren't my thing, nor are tales of scandalous affairs. And this movie just had that arty-farty, give-us-some-Oscar-nominations stank. But hey, it was nominated for some big ones, and when it came to other options, my wife and I couldn't get too excited about Old Man Pitt or Kate's other movie -- with her and Leo screaming at each other.

And then there were the boobies. I can safely saying that I never thought to put "SS guard" and "nice rack" in the same sentence before now.

Our story: A German teen (some young actor) meets a thirtysomething tram ticket-taker (Winslet) through happenstance and falls into a torrid summer affair with her. Of note -- beyond the bordering-on-gratuitous topless scenes -- is how she likes him to read literature to him. He obliges, but eventually she takes off, never to be seen again. Or so we thought.

Years later, the kid is a '60s law student, and his class watches the trial of former WWII female prison camp guards, including Winslet. Obviously this moves the kid, and he remains fixated on her after the trial, engaged in a different, much longer relationship that ultimately makes them both better people.

To say more might be a spoiler, but we can discuss the pros and cons.

(First, a side note: As the closing credits started rolling, I joked with Amy that I wanted to wait for the bloopers. Really, though, wouldn't that be awesome? Forget the little dance number at the end of "Slumdog Millionaire." How cool would it be to watch a serious drama, then have outtakes -- a la Jackie Chan or Judd Apatow movies -- as the credits roll? For what movie would that be the most inappropriate? "Schindler's List?" "Requiem for a Dream?" "Deliverance?" The possibilities are endless ... )

Pros: somewhat interesting story, especially for a romance/period piece; solid performance by Winslet, clearly in Oscar mode again even if the makeup job for her later years was a bit off; a great supporting turn by Lena Olin as a prison camp survivor -- her last scene is great, and a true "supporting role," not one of those third-billed performances; and a second half that was more intriguing than the first, where I kept thinking, "Good thing she's showing some skin, because this is getting repetitive."

Cons: that first half, which was plodding at first, then just boring; the German kid, who had a hard time delivering on his character's torn emotions and looked like a Heath Ledger wannabe; a little bit of overkill in the relationship between the adult versions of our couple; a too-mopey Ralph Fiennes.

In the end, this is still a good movie, even if not my bag. Put another way, don't expect me to be half-drunk one Friday night next year and think, "Hmmm ... should I pop in 'Old School,' 'Flash Gordon' or 'The Reader?'"