Slow in the beginning, but the ending is amazing.

I just watched it and I am surprised it didn't do better. I agree....the beginning is slow. They changed it from the play which takes place entirely at the pub, and where some of the prior events/characters (including Lauren) are only mentioned to build context. I felt they spent too much time building up this rivalry between Miles and Alistair. They could have used a shorthand for it instead of spending so much time on the Lauren thing and the political debating with their tutor.

I get it, they wanted to make Miles more the EveryMan protagonist, by showing him falling for the nice ordinary girl and being tempted down the wrong path, etc. But it could have been handled more elegantly and sparingly. Then they could have paced it much better and kept it moving.

Otherwise, though, it was better than I expected. The acting was great, and the settings, music and overall production value were impressive too.

Overall I would say too many characters and threads stuffed into one two-hour film. It needed to be streamlined. In other words....she should not have changed it so much from the play.