First off, let me admit that I didn't make it to the end of this film. I love costume drama, I'm a fan of Helena Bonham Carter, but this film was too slow even for me. Yes, it had its moments of visual beauty, but the story dragged and the characters were unengaging. Paul Bettany plays - or at least recites the lines of - Rickie, object of desire for two women. One woman is his wife, Madeleine, played by Olivia Williams. She's the sensible, more conventional one. We know this because she says very little and grows flowers. Helena Bonham Carter plays the arty, bohemian sister, Dinah - easily identifiable as a bohemian type because her clothes don't fit properly, her hair is uncombed and she wears too much dark eye make-up.
Yes, it's that stereotypical. I was so disappointed. I expected much better of this film, but it was formulaic and unconvincing. I left not long after the affair between Dinah and Rickie was discovered by Madeleine. So she knew about it. Yes, we knew she knew. But when I couldn't find it in my heart to care what she did about it, I knew it was time to give up on this film.
It could, however, be marketed as the ultimate cure for insomnia.
Yes, it's that stereotypical. I was so disappointed. I expected much better of this film, but it was formulaic and unconvincing. I left not long after the affair between Dinah and Rickie was discovered by Madeleine. So she knew about it. Yes, we knew she knew. But when I couldn't find it in my heart to care what she did about it, I knew it was time to give up on this film.
It could, however, be marketed as the ultimate cure for insomnia.