This film is one which falls into a particular category of Dove non-approved movies-it has some good acting, direction, music, and some good moments, but the amount of violence and the adulterous affair of the two characters named in the title prevent it from being Dove approved as a family film.
Sophia Myles is very convincing as Isolde, the beautiful daughter of a kind mother who died, and a wicked father who is the king of Ireland. She saves Tristan’s life and they fall in love. James Franco is also good as Tristan, the son of murdered parents (by the Irish), and raised by the man who would one day be King Marke of England. As the advertisements suggest, this is a story like Romeo and Juliet–doomed from the start but it is obvious these two belong together. Due to a misunderstanding, Tristan wins Isolde as a bride for the king of Enlgand, but does not realize it is her until he wins the gladiator-type tournament. Once they both learn he has won her hand-but not for himself, the heartbreak sets in.
