A payoff is coming - you know it from the film's opening credits, or its poster - but it takes so long to reveal itself that when it does, it can't help but feel anticlimactic.

Far from heightening the sense of mystery, the flashback construction renders the present-day dramatically inert, giving fine actors little to do save deliver exposition.

There's a mystery at the heart of "The Song of Names," but it isn't much of a mystery, and once it's solved, the movie loses what little interest it has.

A handsome, yet somewhat dreary historical drama that does not hit the emotional notes it needs to succeed.