Effie Gray *** (2014, Dakota Fanning, Emma Thompson, Greg Wise) – Movie Review

Emma Thompson won an Oscar as screenwriter for Sense and Sensibility in 1995 and now two decades on pens her first original screenplay that puts the marriage of esteemed Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray under the microscope.

This is a plush, meticulous and well-dressed film of the true story of Effie’s unconsummated marriage with an emotionally withholding husband dominated by his bossy, controlly parents (Julie Walters, David Suchet) and then further complicated by Effie’s repressed and reluctant affair with the pre-Raphaelite painter John Millais (Tom Sturridge) after she poses for him. 

The 20-year-old American star Dakota Fanning plays Effie with a solid English accent that’s good but isn’t quite right for the part, just like Fanning herself. [Effie’s supposed to be from Perth in Scotland.] Thompson’s husband Greg Wise, however, is ideal in a difficult part as the repressed and unsympathetic Ruskin, while Thompson has some fun playing author and art historian Lady Elizabeth Eastlake, Effie’s friend and champion who eventually encourages her to seek an annulment.

Handsome it may be, but it’s not terribly exciting. The pace is a little sedate and plodding, and the Brit usual suspect thespians come on and do their showy turns rather than give actual truthful performances, but it’s all quite entertaining and informative anyway.

Thompson provides literate, interesting dialogue that actors can actually speak and a bit of structure through a long, rambling saga, but leaves lots of loose ends to the story. The Victorian England setting is well realised and the side trip to Venice is irresistible, taking in Italy’s twin national treasures Claudia Cardinale and the Grand Canal.

There’s smooth and seamless direction from Richard Laxton, known for his work on the TV movie Burton and Taylor (2013), An Englishman in New York (2009) and TV’s Him & Her (2010).

© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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