One of the other main issues of the film is that Knightley's Anna comes off as thoroughly dislikable. Outside of being attractive, it is absolutely impossible to figure out why either Karenin or Vronsky can stand to be in her presence for more than five minutes. I don't believe that the fault here lies entirely with Knightley's performance – the audience really needs to get to know and understand Anna and where she's coming from before she has her affair, but Wright doesn't allow us that opportunity. Having made the sets of the movie of primary import, we are all so dazzled by them (and make no mistake there is genius in the idea) that by the time we can settle down and figure out what's going on in the film, Anna has already launched herself headlong into the affair. There seems to be absolutely no discernible reason for her having done this except that Vronsky is an attractive man.
For his part, beyond being an attractive womanizer, Vronsky has no character whatsoever. Virtually no one in the film does, they are all so reduced to simple one-line ideas about them (Anna – torn between two men, Karenin – duty to the state and what is "appropriate" above all, Levin – desperately in love… both with a woman and the land) that once the audience does start paying attention to them the characters' one-dimensionality quickly is usurped by the sets' two-dimensionality. Even those sets however can't hold one's attention for the 2 hour and 10 minute runtime, making Wright's Anna Karenina a slog to get through. It is like a Baz Luhrmann idea gone horribly awry.
What we can be thankful for with the Blu-ray release is that those brilliant sets are shown in wonderful detail. The movie has a gorgeous, rich, look to it, one that is evident in this release. The costumes are true works of art and the fine details within them clearly evident. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound is also quite good. I am not entirely sure one will believe that they are within the space of the theater in which the movie is filmed, but the surrounds do help move one around. It is well-leveled and the Oscar-nominated original score plays clearly and cleanly. It is evident both in the audio and video elements of the release why the film has the Oscar nominations it does (beyond original score, it is also nominated for cinematography, costume design, and production design).
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