[7.0/10] Not a bad episode of the mini-series. Focusing on the fast disintegration of Dorothea and Casaubon marriage, mixed with the budding courtship of Lydgate and Rosamund, isn’t a bad way to go. I’ll admit, aside from some foreshadowing of certain relationships and beefs, the mini-series doesn't feel particularly deliberate in how it cuts between those stories, seemingly throwing pieces from one storyline next to those from another without much of a cut or a transition. In that way, it works better as sort of a bare dramatization of scenes from the book rather than a complete work in and of itself, but maybe that was just the style at the time.
One catch to all of this is that the acting is variable. The actress who plays Dorothea, for instance, is quite good, capturing both her doting and vulnerable qualities extraordinarily well. The same goes for the actress who plays Mary, who does the scene with the admonition of Fred very well. The actress who plays Rosamund, on the other hand, is pretty rough. Especially here, where Rosamund has to do a lot of emoting, she gives a very big performance and can’t really sustain it.
Otherwise, the episode is fine. There’s too much Mr. Brooke for my taste, especially in a film that has to pick and choose what to focus on given the inevitable streamlining. He’s kind of annoying, which I realize is intentional, but it’s just too large a dose of him. The melodrama with Lydgate and Rosamund isn’t as interesting without Eliot’s wit and the ability to know the characters’ thoughts driving things.
Overall, it’s another capable but underwhelming chapter of the adaptation, one that seems to get the basic facts right, but misses a lot of the spirit of the thing.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-03-24T01:26:18Z
[7.0/10] Not a bad episode of the mini-series. Focusing on the fast disintegration of Dorothea and Casaubon marriage, mixed with the budding courtship of Lydgate and Rosamund, isn’t a bad way to go. I’ll admit, aside from some foreshadowing of certain relationships and beefs, the mini-series doesn't feel particularly deliberate in how it cuts between those stories, seemingly throwing pieces from one storyline next to those from another without much of a cut or a transition. In that way, it works better as sort of a bare dramatization of scenes from the book rather than a complete work in and of itself, but maybe that was just the style at the time.
One catch to all of this is that the acting is variable. The actress who plays Dorothea, for instance, is quite good, capturing both her doting and vulnerable qualities extraordinarily well. The same goes for the actress who plays Mary, who does the scene with the admonition of Fred very well. The actress who plays Rosamund, on the other hand, is pretty rough. Especially here, where Rosamund has to do a lot of emoting, she gives a very big performance and can’t really sustain it.
Otherwise, the episode is fine. There’s too much Mr. Brooke for my taste, especially in a film that has to pick and choose what to focus on given the inevitable streamlining. He’s kind of annoying, which I realize is intentional, but it’s just too large a dose of him. The melodrama with Lydgate and Rosamund isn’t as interesting without Eliot’s wit and the ability to know the characters’ thoughts driving things.
Overall, it’s another capable but underwhelming chapter of the adaptation, one that seems to get the basic facts right, but misses a lot of the spirit of the thing.