Review of Brideshead Revisited (2008) by Ali J — 17 Oct 2008

As with all period pieces these days, the attention to detail and general look of them is faultless. However these were about the best thing in this movie, which I did find a tad disappointing. A little (honest!) too young to have seen the accoladed early 1980s TV series of the same novel, and having not read the novel, I had no pre-determined views on the narrative or the characters.

It was a gentile story with strong characters but I felt that both the Flyte siblings were miscast - Ben Wishaw in particular was too emaciated and creepy to play Sebastian, and also there was a lack of chemistry which I think led to a failure to portray the true emotional turmoil the three main characters were suffering.

Good, but not great. Good sideburn rating: 2/10 Bad period for hirsuteness in general. Presence of sartoriall elegant men: 7/10 Not sure about the jumbo cricket cardys but Charles' wardrobe was pretty fine (except for the 1930s swimming costume) and Matthew Goode has gone on to demonstrate even more sartorial elegance in the new Hackett campaign.

..miaow!