Washington Square **** (1996, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney, Ben Chaplin, Maggie Smith) – Classic Movie Review 2447

Director Agnieska Holland’s plush, riveting and indeed quite splendid 1996 remake of Henry James’s novel is a worthy remake of The Heiress (1949), set in 19th century New York. Jennifer Jason Leigh is excellent as Catherine Sloper, a plain, awkward, painfully shy young woman dominated by her horrible, emotionally abusive father Dr Austin Sloper (Albert Finney).

Though Leigh holds the heart and soul of the film broodingly, it’s a properly chillingly restrained Albert Finney, who attracts most of the attention when he’s on screen. Ben Chaplin also impresses as Morris Townsend, the dashing fortune-hunter Leigh’s Catherine falls for and falls prey to, and Maggie Smith is an obvious asset playing Aunt Lavinia Penniman.

With a clever screenplay by Carol Doyle, an elegant production with set designs by Allan Starski, and stylish, focused direction by Holland, this is an emotionally and dramatically satisfying literary adaptation. It gets right into the chilly spirit of Henry James, while giving it a useful pre-feminist slant.

Unlike The Heiress, which is adapted from the Ruth and Augustus Goetz’s 1947 play version of the novel, it is based directly on the Henry James novel.

Also in the cast are Judith Ivey, Betsy Brantley, Jennifer Garner, Peter Maloney, Arthur Laupus, Robert Stanton, Nancy Daly, Sara Ruzicka, Rachel Layne Secrey, Rachel Osborne, Scott Jaeck, Lauren Hulsey and Sara Constance Marshall.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2447

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com