Jarndyce and Jarndyce has been going on for years. This case, involving several contradicting wills left by a very rich old man, has been in court for decades, and it never seems to near its end. Then two wards of the court, Ada Clare (Carey Mulligan) and Richard Carstone (Patrick Kennedy), together with their orphaned companion, Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin), are placed under the guardianship of a rival in the Jarndyce case - a Mr. John Jarndyce (Denis Lawson) of Bleak House. Another rival in the Jarndyce case is Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson), who is married to old Sir Leicester Dedlock (Timothy West). She is every inch a lady, but she is bored. When her husband's lawyer brings a legal document to show to Sir Leicester, Lady Dedlock recognizes the handwriting - and she faints from shock.Pros: Gillian Anderson is awesome! Especially considering she is an American playing a British role. I love Ada and Esther. This movie is very funny, very engrossing, and very... long. Over seven and a half hours!
Cons: I can't think of a single thing I don't like about this movie.
My Rating: T (thematic elements)
Picture from coverbrowser.com
Just read and watched this one--very good piece of literary stuff there. I actually thought it ran longer than 7.5 hrs. Anyway, thanks for your review!
ReplyDelete~Rachel S.
Well, maybe it is longer than 7.5 hours... I've only ever watched it with breaks (unwilling breaks, mind; I always watch it with other people!), so I've never been able to gauge exactly how long it is.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could like Dickens's books enough to read them, but I'm afraid they're not really up my alley. Too much detail!
~Hydra
P.S. I love telling people one of my favorite movies is 7.5 or 8 hours long and that it's called "Bleak House." Their reactions are hilarious!