This past weekend I went to see the movie “Winter’s Tale.” Before watching the movie, I checked out the trailer and the reviews to get an idea of what I should expect. Based on what I saw and read I was thinking I wouldn’t like the movie at all. However, I decided to give it a chance anyway.

Jessica Brown Findlay, who formerly played Sybil in Downton Abbey, plays the lead female role in Winter’s Tale as Beverly Penn. She is a stunningly beautiful and believable actress.

Russell Crowe plays a demon named Pearly Soames who spends most of the movie trying to catch Peter Lake, a thief who attempts to steal Beverly’s heart. Peter Lake is played by Colin Farrell. As usual, Farrell does a superb job as leading man.

The movie follows Lake, who as a baby was placed into a little boat and left to float at sea. He ends up washed on land and is taken in by Soames who, we find out through dialogue, trained him for a life of crime. Lake eventually quits working for Soames and is constantly on the run.

With a nudge from the magical white horse, Lake ends up stopping to break into a wealthy residence and unexpectedly meets the beautiful Penn who offers him a cup of tea, even after knowing he is a thief.

Penn is a beautiful, classy, talented, piano-playing redhead that looks at life in a positive manner even though she’s dying of consumption. Lake quickly changes his mind about stealing from the Penn family after meeting her. He instantly fallis in love with her.

Like many other viewers, I was surprised that the plot involved much more than the romance the previews primarily focused on. Some viewers may be confused to find this movie also includes time travel, demons, angels and a flying horse and of course Will smith playing ‘Lucifer’ wearing earrings and a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt.

There were a few little things that could be questioned. For example, towards the end of the movie one of the characters looks around 80, yet according to the timeline she should have technically been 110.

People actually paying attention to the math could find themselves uttering “Huh?” But that minor “huh” moment is quickly lost with the beauty and magic of the story. After all, the movie is about miracles, right?

So perhaps this could be possible. Basically anyone with a good imagination should have no problem filling in any holes. And anyone believing in the battle of good versus evil, love at first sight and miracles should have no problem following this movie.

I was given the impression by the reviews that the main characters wouldn’t have chemistry, the story line would be hard to follow and it was not worth watching so I went to this movie expecting not to like it.

However, I was surprisingly pleased with it and will probably watch it again. What I learned most from “Winter’s Tale” was that you can’t always trust the reviews.