LoginI wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Dakota Fanning, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I didn’t know at all what it was about before watching this movie and it turned out to be a rather dreary costume drama about a loveless marriage. It’s only afterwards that I discovered that the damned thing had been written by Emma Thompson which might explain why she was displayed on all the promotional material even though she had a rather small part. Well, even though Thompson had managed to win an Academy Award for her screenplay for ‘Sense and Sensibility’, she hasn’t exactly been productive as a writer afterwards and, above all, she never wrote anything really worthwhile. Indeed, ‘Nanny McPhee’ was a rather shameless Mary Poppins copycat and, in this case, it seems that she got heavily inspired by ‘Madame Bovary’. In fact, it was actually based on a true story but, to be honest, I just didn’t care much about the damned thing. The basic idea was to show how awful it was for Effie Gray that she ended up in such a loveless marriage but, to be honest, her situation was hardly exceptional as most marriages were not based on love back then. In this case, they tried to argue that her situation was even worse because they never even had sex but this argument was never really convincing. I mean, what would you prefer? To be married with a guy you don’t love but at least leave you alone or to be married with a guy you don’t love and forces you to have sex with him? It didn’t help that both characters were rather poorly developed. Even if you wouldn’t really know from this movie, John Ruskin was actually apparently quite a brilliant man but, in this movie, he remained an enigma with some autistic features and some possible asexual pedophiliac tendencies. The main character was not much better and while everyone, except her husband and her in-laws, seemed to agree that she was ‘amazing’, she didn’t do anything really impressive except sulking through the whole duration. Anyway, to conclude, even if the story had some potential, I never cared much for the damned thing but I guess it might still be worth a look if you like the genre.
Effie Gray Reviews
An average movie
Posted : 2 years, 10 months ago on 23 June 2021 10:41
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What a married woman can expect from her husband?
Posted : 9 years ago on 22 April 2015 08:54
The movie was delayed a year to hit the screen due to the copyright issue. A biographical picture from Britain set in the late 1840. The movie revolves the story of Euphemia Gray shortly known as Effie Gray and her married life. She was from Scotland and only 19 when she married to the British art critic John Ruskin. But she was kept under certain limits of space by her laws. It makes her a lonely soul in the house, which surface a serious threat to their loveless marriage. Can it be held or not is the movie's final conclusion.
Dakota Fanning, like I saw her yesterday in teen movies, but now she's in a grown up movie. Felt kind of hard to accept, and then after a while begin to like her performance. That does not mean it was a powerful act, somehow convincible to the viewers. That is mainly because of the story. Actually it's a simple story, if it was set in the today's world. For those periods, it was a big affair to deal publicly as well as family's prestige.
The movie's settings and locations were good. As usual in a period drama the costumes are very good. It's always pleasure to learn the history through movies than the school textbooks. Other than that it was an average or just above. The thing is, it was a too slow and a little long movie, thus its not a commercial film. Many people aren't ready to pay watch it in the theatres, that is understood. So in my opinion, it should have been a television movie instead, with sliced into 3-4 episodes. Anyway, not for everyone, but for those who love slow presentations would have a good time.
6/10
Dakota Fanning, like I saw her yesterday in teen movies, but now she's in a grown up movie. Felt kind of hard to accept, and then after a while begin to like her performance. That does not mean it was a powerful act, somehow convincible to the viewers. That is mainly because of the story. Actually it's a simple story, if it was set in the today's world. For those periods, it was a big affair to deal publicly as well as family's prestige.
The movie's settings and locations were good. As usual in a period drama the costumes are very good. It's always pleasure to learn the history through movies than the school textbooks. Other than that it was an average or just above. The thing is, it was a too slow and a little long movie, thus its not a commercial film. Many people aren't ready to pay watch it in the theatres, that is understood. So in my opinion, it should have been a television movie instead, with sliced into 3-4 episodes. Anyway, not for everyone, but for those who love slow presentations would have a good time.
6/10
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