Haven’t read the book.
Loved the twist ending.

Front-runners kept falling by the wayside and it was fun trying to guess who it would finally be. Then the speech occurs and the darkhorse emerges and it felt like we'd reached the journey's end. If the twist occurs in the book, then I see why it was included. Still, a novel allows for much more exposition and story, so something that might seem natural in novel form seems shoehorned into the screenplay. Still, I can overlook that because of the stellar performances. I expect Fiennes to get an Oscar nod, and deservedly so.

This Siskel/Ebert devotee gives it:

I think that it is something that could possibly occur in real life.

Ralph Fiennes gave an Oscar worthy performance. John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci gave great performances as well.

Isabella Rosselleni did a lot with a small role. She might sneak in for a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

in my opinion the twist at the end was unexpected and exceptional. I don't want to give any spoilers
so I won't.

As someone who dislikes duplicate threads and only wants people to check before posting on a topic, I failed to live up to my own standard and for that I am sorry.

We'll have to disagree for the reason I stated above. Still, I do love a good back-and-forth on a movie. And, since I would never spoil this movie for anyone, I still hope someone who has enjoyed both the book and movie will chime in.