Adapted for the screen by Laura Jones from Peter Carey's novel, Oscar and Lucinda is the story of two people from different continents who are brought together by their shared addiction to gambling. Oscar Hopkins (Ralph Fiennes) is an English lad who grows up in a strict religious household. His father (Clive Russell) is a Brethren minister who thinks that faithfulness to God requires expunging all earthly joy. Oscar is deeply religious himself, but he discovers physical pleasure in a forbidden taste of pudding and decides that he can be just as worshipful as an Anglican. While at Oxford studying for the ministry, Oscar discovers the joys of betting on horse races. He loves the tingling excitement of the bet, and he comes to view every victory as a sign of God's blessing. And God does seem to bless Oscar's gambling. The young man's winnings enable him to live more comfortably, give presents to friends and donate significant sums to the poor.

Lucinda (Cate Blanchett) and Oscar (Ralph Fiennes) can't let themselves enjoy each other, while director Gillian Armstrong doesn't let viewers enjoy her movie.

Meanwhile, in Australia, a young woman named Lucinda Leplastrier (Cate Blanchett) inherits a vast fortune that provides her very little in the way of happiness. Lucinda can find pleasure in only three things: ornamental glass, conversations with her friend the Rev. Dennis Hasset (Ciaran Hinds), and, eventually, gambling. She likes cards in particular. Lucinda might like to develop her relationship with Hasset along romantic lines, but he disapproves of her gambling and moves from Sydney to a distant rural parish.

Oscar and Lucinda meet on an ocean liner. She is returning from a trip to London, and he is on his way to missionary service in Australia. They play cards, and they fall for one another, but both are so emotionally clotted they can't reveal their affection. They settle for a relationship of unspoken urges and tolerated misunderstandings. Finally, this leads to disaster when Oscar heads into the hinterland on a mission devised solely for the purpose of winning Lucinda's already thoroughly won heart.

I have to believe that all this proved more exciting and cohesive in Carey's Booker Prize-winning novel (which I haven't read). Armstrong is certainly a talented filmmaker, as demonstrated by the strong critical reception she received for such earlier films as My Brilliant Career and Little Women. But she's not at all well served by Jones' screenplay. A host of events are poorly constructed, and the whole feels hastily taped together.

Oscar doesn't think gambling is a sin, so why does he feel he has to go to Australia to get away from gambling? How are we to understand Lucinda's obsession with glass? By what logic does Oscar derive the notion that he can win Lucinda's heart by delivering a prefabricated glass and steel church to Hasset's congregation? And why does the idea excite Lucinda so? Why does the trek to Hasset's parish take on the look of a military expedition? We know that Oscar has an irrational fear of the sea, but he managed to make it from London to Sydney, so why does he endeavor to reach Hasset's parish overland? Why does expedition leader Mr. Jeffris (Richard Roxburgh) go out of his way to murder aborigines in their own territory? And given the fact that Lucinda has promised Jeffris a sizable bonus for delivering Oscar safely, why does Jeffris then turn and try to kill Oscar? At the end, how are we to understand the actions of one Miriam Chadwick (Josephine Byrnes), and why would Oscar respond to Miriam in such a nonsensical way?