26 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
26 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
the swooping shots across darkened rooftops suggest a very tim burton movie , but , alas , no caped crusader descends to save * this * film .
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instead , it's a skeletal housemaid ( julia roberts ) who must bear witness to this unfortunate retelling of " dr .
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jekyll and mr . hyde . "
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for a few , fleeting , maddening moments , director stephen frears ( dangerous liaisons ) gets everything just right-- the tone , the colors , the characters ; all the ingredients to make a most-powerful potion out of valerie martin's best-selling novel .
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yet it fizzles too quickly ; the volatile mixture losing potency from the very first scene .
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casting is a large part of the problem .
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the story all but collap- ses around ms . roberts-- she doesn't have the range for this kind of drama .
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her accent also comes and goes , though it's nowhere near as glaring as the total lack of chemistry between her and co-star john malkovich .
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( he looks the same in both of his roles-- an incredible fact that's missed by everyone in the story ! )
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the very british supporting cast-- including michael gambon and george cole-- gives credibility to the smaller parts .
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glenn close also appears as a madam that the good doctor calls upon .
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her performance is as close to intentional camp as the movie ever gets and-- as a bonus-- offers a likely peek at her upcoming cruella de ville in the live-action 101 dalmantions .
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the biggest botch in mary reilly is suspense : there is none .
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no terror , no tension ; nothing .
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without any weight , wit , or wonder to propel the story , the viewer is left with little more to do than pay attention to the period detail , a few buckets of blood , and stuart craig's fabulously dreary production design .
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all of which gets old after about an hour , at which point i recommend leaving .
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( the pacing in the second-half is especially abominable .
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if you * do * stick it through , your sole reward is a half-hokey special effect depicting the infamous transformation . )
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mr . frears reportedly recut his film several times , missing several release dates in the process .
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( obviously , no one advised him to throw up his hands and just turn the whole damned thing over to mel brooks .
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blucher ! )
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mary reilly is the second robert louis stevenson story of the month , after muppet treasure island .
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perhaps mr . frears should consult with brian henson on future projects .
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i daresay that even ms . piggy is a better choice for a certain roles than julia roberts .
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and she does have a great chop !
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