I'm not really in the position to turn my nose up at even a half-rate installment of Masterpiece Classics, but after watching my TiVo'd Part I of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights last night with Kim, I have to confess we were underwhelmed.
1) Where the heck was Mr. Lockwood? The best part about the novel is how eerily it begins, with this traveler showing up at W.H. on a cold dark night and discovering both the motley crew residing within as well as the curious graffiti marks on the bed panels in Cathy's former room. Instead of that intriguing start, we got to meet the second-generation upstarts in some random supplemental scenes...an immediate snooze.
2) Tom Hardy was not my Heathcliff. Sorry, he just wasn't sexy-swarthy enough. Granted, we DID start to warm up to him once he returned with the spiffy haircut and the raging dose of 'tude, but that doesn't make up for the fifty-or-so minutes we spent feeling weirded-out by him and wondering why Cathy was even attracted to him in the first place.
3) Cathy could have been a bit more of a spitfire, but all-told, Charlotte Riley was acceptable, albeit a little too modern-looking. (Especially in the one scene where she was lying on the ground with him wearing a knit cap that made her look like a hipster Brooklynite circa 2006.)
I could continue my list of gripes, but I'm not even inspired enough to do so. Let us know what you loved (or loathed) about it.
Also, I was remiss in not mentioning the sex scenes. "Ellis Bell" would have been appalled.
ReplyDeleteHeathcliff actually said something like, "A month ago we lay together..." and it was so cringeworthy I wanted to crawl under the sofa.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on Cathy's wardrobe. I spent the entire time thinking, "What the HELL is she wearing?" I actually thought the clothes were cute... if they had been in an Anthropologie catalog. They weren't right for WH.
I liked Tom Hardy better than I thought I would. The photos (like the one in your post) are awful, but he's better on screen.
Agreed. I coveted that little red jacket she wore in many scenes. Very Anthropologie.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree - Tom Hardy looks a little too Fabio.
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