I liked the movie quite a bit (it and Old Joy have been the best things I've seen lately) but I can also see how a slightly different me would've thought it clumsy and a real button-pusher. I don't harbor any inordinate Julianne Moore hate (that I can recall) but I did think her flat affect was the weakest thing in the movie.

French Revolution: I would recommend Simon Schama's Citizens if I had finished it, but I didn't.