Effie Gray
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Greg Wise, Tom Sturridge, Emma Thompson
Director: Richard Laxton
Rating: 3/5
Emma Thompson has penned some wonderful screenplays over the years with the likes of Sense and Sensibility and Nanny McPhee under her belt.
She is back on writing duties this week with new film Effie Gray: which will mark her first original screenplay. Thompson is also on the cast, and any movie is better with the presence of this Oscar winner.
The film explores the fascinating, true story of the relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin, his teenage bride, Euphemia 'Effie' Gray and Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.
Gray and Ruskin marry, but his horror of physical contact means that the marriage is never consummated.
Dakota Fanning gives a great central performance of a young woman who is trapped in a marriage with a man who doesn't love her and is more interested in his work.
She sinks deeper and deeper into despair, and the film really captures her sorrow and misery. This is perhaps one of the most difficult roles of Fanning's career to date, as she has to be passive for a large chunk of the movie.
Having said that, I liked her interactions with Wise and Thompson, and she has some wonderful chemistry with Sturridge as Millais.
And while this is a movie that is filled with strong performances, this is a film that never really soars or gets out of third gear.
There is no doubt that is it a thoughtful take on a very tricky relationship; you are just left wanting more from the way that this story was told.
This is a story that never really goes anywhere and the love triangle between Gray, Ruskin, and painter John Millais never really sizzles.
I must say, Effie Gray is a beautiful looking film; cinematographer Andrew Dunn really has done a fantastic job.
Effie Gray is a movie that does have its flaws, and yet I found it to be an interesting as well as an intelligent film - there really is quite a lot to enjoy here.
Effie Gray is out now.