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Films viewed in 2010
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 08:55 amEasy Virtue: (2008) I have no acquaintance with the Noel Coward play from which this movie was adapted, so I can't say how faithful it is to the original. My guess is, not very. Also, the blurb insists that the film is a "romantic comedy," to which again I say, not very. Those caveats made...
In the period between the end of the first World War and the beginning of the second, John Whittaker, a young and naive Englishman, returns home to the family's estate with his new bride, an American woman considerably his elder. Larita (Larry) is a race car driver, having most recently snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as the first driver to cross the finish line at Monaco, and immediately disqualified as the winner because she lacked the appropriate gender markers. Johnny's family consists of his embittered mother, two sisters -- one perpetually drunk, the other merely malicious -- and a distant father spiritually damaged by the war, brutally mistreated and sidelined by his wife.
The newlyweds' plan, as far as Larry knows it, is to stop for a few days and then continue to London, where she will race and Johnny will take up employment. Mother is not pleased any of these plans, and a battle for the possession of Johnny begins.
Most of the characters were annoying, on different notes, and Mrs. Whittaker was the embodiment of poison. Johnny is callow and easily swayed; his sisters toads. Larry is willful and unable to bend; she is only sympathetic in comparison to her nemesis. Mr. Whittaker is dark, disengaged and by far the most interesting character.
Despite all of the above, I liked the movie; particularly the ending, though it, and the particulars of Larry's Dark Secret, make me believe that this adaptation is not entirely true to the original text.
The Brothers Bloom
In the period between the end of the first World War and the beginning of the second, John Whittaker, a young and naive Englishman, returns home to the family's estate with his new bride, an American woman considerably his elder. Larita (Larry) is a race car driver, having most recently snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as the first driver to cross the finish line at Monaco, and immediately disqualified as the winner because she lacked the appropriate gender markers. Johnny's family consists of his embittered mother, two sisters -- one perpetually drunk, the other merely malicious -- and a distant father spiritually damaged by the war, brutally mistreated and sidelined by his wife.
The newlyweds' plan, as far as Larry knows it, is to stop for a few days and then continue to London, where she will race and Johnny will take up employment. Mother is not pleased any of these plans, and a battle for the possession of Johnny begins.
Most of the characters were annoying, on different notes, and Mrs. Whittaker was the embodiment of poison. Johnny is callow and easily swayed; his sisters toads. Larry is willful and unable to bend; she is only sympathetic in comparison to her nemesis. Mr. Whittaker is dark, disengaged and by far the most interesting character.
Despite all of the above, I liked the movie; particularly the ending, though it, and the particulars of Larry's Dark Secret, make me believe that this adaptation is not entirely true to the original text.
The Brothers Bloom
