 Hailing Winslet as "the best English-speaking film actress of her generation", David Edelstein of "New York" magazine wrote that "there isn't a banal moment in Winslet's performance—not a gesture, not a word".To avoid a scheduling conflict with "Revolutionary Road", Winslet turned down an offer to star in "The Reader".After her replacement Nicole Kidman left the project due to her pregnancy, Winslet was signed to it.