The countdown continues, with a recent adaptation of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Cast, Crew, and Other Info
Julia Roberts as Mary Reilly
John Malkovich as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
George Cole as Mr. Poole
Clenn Close as Mrs. Farraday
Written by Christopher Hampton, based on a Valerie
Martin novel.
Directed by Stephen Frears
Complete information is available from
IMDB.
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Past movie reviews can be found
Premise
Mary Reilly is Dr. Jekyll’s maid.
High Point
The beating of the child in the street. As horrible
as that may
sound, it made me feel even worse. This well
executed moment removed
any chance of ever liking Mr. Hyde.
Low Point
This element may be from the novel it was based on.
(I haven’t read
it.) Still, if it were, that would just mean the
filmmakers could
have changed it back instead of changing it in the
first place. My
complaint is that this is essentially a new
perspective on a classic
work. As such, it should serve as a consistent
companion piece to
that work. Instead, as we draw near the finale, we
find that it
rewrites the ending to the novel, in terms of the
location of the
staff, Dr. Jekyll’s activities and encounters on that
night, and even
Dr. Jekyll’s motivations. That spoils much of the
novelty for me.
The Scores
The originality is based on the novelty I
just mentioned.
This is a different perspective on a
novel, that
should have had a lot of potential. Instead, this
alteration in the
doctor’s motivations just defaces the source material
in a way that
destroys the most thematically significant part of
the story. Add in
the fact that it’s still an adaptation, so it’s not
even a completely
original perspective, and it does very poorly. I
give it 2 out of 6.
The effects were limited to the final
sequence, and they
weren’t very good. I give it 3 out of 6.
The story feels like it’s missing pieces.
We learn about
Mary Reilly and why she may be drawn to this beast,
but there are
still elements (like the rat at Farraday’s) that just
seem to be there
for the sake of being there. I couldn’t figure out
what this movie
was trying to do or say. You can’t treat this story
as a mystery any
more. The alteration to the doctor’s motives and
Mary’s reaction
strip out most of the potential to get a moral
message across. As
near as I can figure, the point is either to shoehorn
a significant female
character into a decidedly male population in this
story (which may be
justifiable) or to turn this into a love story (which
is wholly
inappropriate.) I just don’t see the point. I give
it 3 out of 6.
The acting is easily the best part of the
film. The acting
is actually quite good, while much of the rest is
mediocre. Julia
Roberts did a good job, and John Malkovich played
this version of
Jekyll very well, in retrospect. (I didn’t like him
at first, but
that’s only because I was expecting to get the
traditional version.)
I give it 5 out of 6.
The emotional response was going along well
enough, with the
alternating
nervous discomfort and disgust that the filmmakers
were going for,
until we learn of this Jekyll’s motives. That just
seemed like such a
slap in the face that it destroyed what this movie
had going for it.
I give it 3 out of 6.
The production is, admittedly, good. The
mood is very well
established, and consistently maintained. The colour
choices were
very carefully made. I give it 5 out of 6.
Overall, it’s not horrible, but it’s not
particularly good,
either. I give it 3 out of 6.
In total, Mary Reilly receives 24 out of 42.
Halloween Countdown to date
- October
1:
Through The
Ages - October 2:
Dead - October 3:
2: Dead By Dawn - October 4:
Darkness - October 5:
- October 6:
2 - October 7:
Shop of Horrors (1960) - October 8:
Terror - October 9:
Shining - October 10:
Blood - October 11:
- October 12:
Ring - October 13:
Sense - October 14:
- October 15:
Hollow - October 16:
Gaiman’s Neverwhere
Sort of a combination of…
Dr. Jekyll and Jane Eyre. Mary Reilly quietly falls in love with the brutish Dr. Jekyll, who in this case instead of an insane wife had an insane alter ego.
I agree that the production was top notch and really made you feel like you were in 1800’s London with the sooty fogs and streetside butchers.
Re: Sort of a combination of…
As you say, well-acted and well-realized, and for me, it worked as a character study. However, it needed more than that, and anyone expecting Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will be disappointed.
Still, good to know Julia can act.