Review of The Age of Innocence (1993) by Deadly Night S — 11 Aug 2009

You know, usually movies are supposed to be faster-paced than the novels from which they spring. Here, however, I was much more transfixed by what was happening in the novel than on the screen. The pacing for this film made it seem endless and dull.

For another thing, I think the only actress here who rose to her character is Winona Ryder as May. And the script left out so much of her quiet knowledge of her husband's almost-affair and her underlying attempts to separate him from her cousin by using conventional and underhanded means.

I usually like Daniel Day-Lewis but in this film as Newland Archer? No! He didn't seem to have much depth, and only until the end do we see the novel's Newland make any sort of appearance. I didn't like the casting of Michelle Pfeiffer as Ellen Olenska, either.

She had none of the novel character's charm and social awkwardness. Really, this movie attempted to capture the novel's tragic beauty but failed miserably. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who'd read the novel or thought this would be an accurate representation of it.

Skip it.