Washington Square
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Movie Reviews of Washington Square
Movie Review: DVD: Washington Square
Summary: 5 Stars
Washington Square is a remake of The Heiress, which starred Olivia De Havilland and Montgomery Clift in 1949. Amazon.com was the only place I could find this DVD. Jennifer Jason Leigh is superb as the lonely young woman in search of happiness, and Albert Finney is hateful as her overbearing father who does not love her. I enjoy this version just as much as the original.Movie Review: WASHINGTON SQUARE
Summary: 5 Stars
I have both versions of this movie; the original being
"The Heiress" with Olivia deHavilland, but Jennifer Jason Leigh was made for this role. Excellent cast, excellent film!!
Movie Review: Washington Square DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my favorites and the DVD soundtrack is the best and worth listening to seperate...It can be found in CD form..Movie Review: excellent print
Summary: 5 Stars
An excellent print of a very enjoyable movie. The print quality is most important to me.Movie Review: Loved it until I read the book
Summary: 4 Stars
Honestly, this was one of my favorite films until I read the book, and it brought to light two things that I think the director really messed up on.
1. Catherine Sloper was nowhere near as socially retarded in the book as she was in the movie. In fact, as someone said, in the movie they practically portray her as being borderline mentally challenged. In the books her faults were not as exaggerated, and consisted of her plain looks, dull personality and occasional lack of a witty retort (which happens to all of us save for those annoying few who always have the perfect thing to say). Otherwise I would characterize her, especially in comparison to her flighty aunt and cold-hearted dad, as the only normal one in the house. While everyone else was making the situation with Morris more of a drama than it needed to be, Catherine was taking things as they came and letting them go as they went. She grows from naive girl who adored her callous father to a secure woman.
Also, while in the movie they portrayed her dress sense as evidence of her social ineptitude (the scene where she goes to the party where she meets Morris in that awful fringed thing), in the book it is an admirable eccentricity, and proves that she is not as boring as she seems.
2. While Albert Finney does a great job of capturing Dr. Sloper's callous sarcasm, he doesn't (and again, I think this is the director's fault) really capture the type of psychological game he is playing with his daughter. In the book, Dr. Sloper detachedly views the goings on between his daughter and Morris as a kind of entertainment, a play that he wants to see if he guessed the correct ending to. In return, as Catherine realizes what as asshat her father is (can I say that here?), she begins to play the game with him, telling him when he is near his deathbed that she can't promise she won't marry Morris after he dies (This scene also takes place in the movie, but the way it is acted out you get the sense that Catherine is saying this because she hasn't let Morris go yet - the director hasn't developed the character enough to make the viewer believe she has the intelligence to play her dad's own game).
In terms of praise, the performances by Maggie Smith, Albert Finney and Ben Chaplin are great. To quote another review again, Ben Chaplin really has you wondering what exactly are his character motives (even though deep down you know he wants her money, like the naive Catherine, you continue to want to believe everyone is wrong). I admit I picked up the book in the first place because I wanted to get a better handle on Morris and his intentions! Also, the soundtrack is just gorgeous.