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tdwig
Reviews
Lorna Doone (2000)
A bit dull, inconsistent
Despite the many glowing reviews also appearing here, I cannot recommend this production of Lorna Doone, now being sold as part of an otherwise great boxed set of BBC/A&E productions that also includes Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Ivanhoe, and others. The scenery is great, but the characters are just not likeable.
Even I, an American, can recognize that every actor seems to have a different and varying English accent - it's almost like watching an international cast. The actor portraying Carver, the chief villain, is not very convincing as a tough, and carries himself like a dandy. The scenes of the protagonist mugging for the camera are numerous. The direction is probably to blame for this film's uneven quality.
Widows' Peak (1994)
Good acting, implausible ending
This is billed as a suspense/comedy, but is really lacking in comedy. The acting is fairly good, but the script forces us to accept numerous incidents of inexplicably outrageous behaviour from the characters culminating in an ending that my wife and I anticipated, but may be a surprise to some. While the ending reveals the characters' hidden motivations, it is paper thin. We really don't care what happens to the characters anyway, so the ending fails to deliver its punch to the viewer.