Review of Jude (1996) by Deadly Night S — 03 Aug 2008

Hardy's bleak but neccesary realism gets an honest celluloid outing in this mid 90s effort from Michael Winterbottom. Eccleston was almost tailor made for the role of the perpetually dour Jude, a man of whom it seems destiny is at odds with.

Kate Winslet before she became another unremarkable lead makes a highly convincing and sharply executed Sue. Jude's domestic environment and the bitter external world all correlate nicely with Winterbottom's frank naturalistic vision sometimes echoing Hardy's masterpiece scene for scene, something which was never going to endear him to those more interested in Dolby surround sound than an honest piece of realism.