I’m conflicted about this because on the one hand this is a quiet independent film taking place in a long ago period that has the guts to open anywhere near the summer movie season, but on the other hand this is still technically a remake of a remake of an adaptation. What’s wrong with this picture when even our counter-programming is based on source material that’s been beaten like a dead horse?
What Doesn’t Work: It’s important to start with the negatives because I really have to emphasize that if you’re at all familiar with this source material–and I was–then you might want to wait until Netflix for this one, because this adaptation doesn’t really offer much in the way of “new.” It’s faithful with a cast that is only adequate in these roles—I’ll admit that I don’t really “get” Carey Mulligan’s appeal, and Michael Sheen can be terrific but he feels miscast for this part—and only Matthias Schoenaerts really stands out in a role as the “best” of Mulligan’s three potential suitors.
The other two are Sheen’s older rich guy and a feckless soldier Mulligan goes gaga over. The fact that it takes her so long to pick between them (but the movie never fully lets in on her thought process) really says something about this heroine…or this version of her. Why exactly is she so attracted to a soldier who is really not very attractive? Why does she keep spurning the advances of Schoenaerts and Sheen, despite showing them interest? You’d be forgiven if the heroine of this classic novel doesn’t make much sense to you, since this adaptation doesn’t try hard enough to get under her skin.
What Does Work: The film is sleepy, and a little boring, and a little miscast, and the script is a little undercooked, etc. but absolutely none of that matters when we finally, finally, finally get to all the payoff scenes in the last ten minutes which are absolutely satisfying. In fact, the final shot of this movie is one of the best endings I’ve seen all year, and it really does confirm that old adage that at least half a story is in the ending. When your ending works so well, who can really even remember how long it took to get there?
What I Would Have Done Differently: Besides cast a different actress, and trim the run time, and tighten the pacing, and go deeper into character motivations, and–you know what? It doesn’t matter, because that ending really works, and that keeps the movie from being a total wash.