Now, I'll immediately admit that these sort of costume dramas are most certainly not my cup of tea. But I'll try to look past that and take the movie for what it is and judge it for its quality.
And really, this is not a movie you could be very negative about. It's simply too well made for that, with great visuals but some even better acting in it.
I never was too big on Mia Wasikowska as an actress but with this movie she convinced me of her abilities. I also really liked Michael Fassbender in his role and it by now is an almost absolute certainty he will get an Oscar, somewhere in the next 5 years. Someone who also really pleasantly surprised me was Jamie Bell. Who would had known that he was also capable of playing these more heavy and demanding sort of roles.
And like most costume dramas, it's relying heavily on its actors and their performance. And luckily there is very little wrong with the acting in this movie, especially also when Dame Judi Dench starts to show up in it. But its also definitely true that they are being helped by its fine written dialog, that gives the movie most of its pace. It's really never becoming a boring or overlong movie to watch, unlike many of the other genre examples.
But I still had some minor problems with this movie. Well, not problems really but more things that came across to me as not quite good or effective enough at times. The drama, the tension, the mystery, the romance. It all really could had been done a tad bit better to get me a bit more involved with it all.
The story itself is solid and interesting enough. Perhaps it sound weird but it all reminded me of an '40's Hitchcock movie, with its atmosphere, characters and secrets, that were playing a key role in the movie its story.
It's not my sort of thing but if the Jane Austen type of movies are your thing, you'll definitely be able to appreciate and enjoy this movie.
7/10
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