Bloodless Coup

i share your high opinion of the film. i've probably seen it two or three times by now, and i've caught chunks of it more times than that (it has been an HBO staple for 6 months, and if i'm looking to pass 20 minutes while i eat or something, it's going to beat out most of what else is on at any given time). it really loosened me up about bale, who until then i'd had little use for. batman plus the machinist sort of helped me warm to him; i've never doubted his talent, i've just been put off by his brand of scenery-chewing. it works in BB, though, and i'm looking forward to the next one, especially ledger in the joker's role (if i don't misremember), given nolan's continuing involvement.

just out of curiosity, why, aside from a general lack of talent, do you think holmes is miscast?

She's too young for the part (or looks too young) as the story suggests she and Bale should be approximately the same age. And I didn't buy her for a second as a tough, idealistic ADA.

i see your point, although there's a distinction to be made between a "tough, idealistic ADA" in the world, in a gritty crime drama (a role for which she'd be as ill-suited as you suggest), and that same role in a comic-book world, however darkly conceived and rendered. i think she acquits herself respectably in the role of comic-book heroine cum damsel in distress, and even has the odd angular fragility of comic-book treatments of women. and as for age gaps, there are people my age who look much older than, and much younger than i; i never really considered issues of verisimilitude to be a problem there, although again, of course, i see your point.