Fans of Downton Abbey - don't bother with this...
This movie, starring Elizabeth McGovern among others, has an obvious similarity to Downton Abbey and no doubt fans of that wonderful series will be drawn to it. But the similarity is all on the surface. In fact, this turns out to be a pretty dour and rather boring excursion into the emotional stuntedness of the English upper middle classes during the 1930s.
It all takes place at a country house in Devon on a single day. Dotty, a rather vapid young thing who is pretty but not much else, is marrying the square-chinned Owen. But she has invited her former swain Joseph to the festivities -- and he for some reason has come. The house fills with guests, none particularly interesting, and Dotty knocks back slugs of rum while waiting for Joseph to do something -- which he never quite manages.
We also get flashbacks to the lovers the previous summer, boating on the river, kissing in the conservatory, running through the rain etc etc. We wait for them to give in to the...
Slow, boring, and pointless
The best thing I can say about this film is that there are nice shots of pretty clothes and a lovely upper-class English home in the early 1930's.
The main character, a self-absorbed wealthy young girl, is torn between the man she is about to marry and a former lover. She is pretty in a vacuous way, but with an annoying habit of posing with her two front teeth resting on her lower lip. I guess that's what privileged young girls did in England at that time? Her groom to be is a handsome cheerful chap but we don't see much of him. Who we do see "moping about" is last summer's boyfriend, a chinless lad with all the charm of the tortoise he gave her. It turns out, in the only interesting scene in the film, that he may have impregnated her, in which case the child will have the worst features of both---egad! The bride, who is supposed to be not only pretty but witty and charming (we don't see that but we are told that she is) has the stock plain, little sister whom...
A Brilliant Film!
I have to say, I'm shocked that so many people have given this film a bad review! I watched it last night and it is one of my new favorite films. The overall plot is, admittedly, rather slow moving, but this film wasn't meant to be fast paced with lots of explosions and car chases, it was meant to be a deep examination of people. The film covered one day - Dolly's wedding day, but throughout the film we got glimpses of past experiences and we also saw different perspectives of the events of the day. I thought the acting was very well done, Felicity Jones is very talented and Elizabeth McGovern really added a lot. Also the set of the film was absolutely beautiful! This film is very rich, visually, with beautiful costumes and contrast in the lighting between the present and the flashbacks. I loved the character development and the overall feel of the entire film. It really is one of my new favorite films! It is worth seeing if you like intelligent films that really examine the human...
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