Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Mary Reilly (1996)
Director: Stephen Frears
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Coppola's Dracula, Branagh's Frankenstein, Jordan's Vampire, and now Frears' Jekyll and Hyde. Will these horrors never cease? A more modest failure than the others, this lacks the vaulting artistic hubris to compensate for its over-produced, over-determined inertia. The film, adapted by Christopher Hampton from a novel by Valerie Martin, approaches Stevenson's characters from a new angle: the point of view of a scullery maid in Dr Jekyll's household. Such nifty cultural repackaging sounds intriguing, but comes a cropper as soon as it's apparent that Mary (Roberts) is missing all the action: she cleans up after the murders, watches while Jekyll goes into his lab and Hyde comes out, flirts timidly with both - and that's just the highlights. It's not all bad: cinematographer Philippe Rousselot enshrouds everything in a fine Victorian fog, and George Fenton contributes an atmospheric score, but Frears never seems to get a fix on the material. If her accent is all over the place, it's hardly Roberts' fault that her pale, gaunt Mary seems to have been sampling the doctor's concoctions. Columbia have grafted on a panicky blood-and-thunder climax, with a belated transformation scene, but the film remains obstinately decorous, about as scary as an episode of Upstairs, Downstairs.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Stephen Frears
Producer: Ned Tanen, Nancy Graham Tanen, Norma Heyman
Cast: Julia Roberts, John Malkovich, Glenn Close, George Cole, Michael Gambon, Michael Sheen, Linda Bassett, Ciaran Hinds, Moya Brady full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 109 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Michael Haneke discusses 'The White Ribbon'
Dave Calhoun met with Michael Haneke in Munich to mull over the details of his Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Review a Coens' movie and win!
A signed copy of the script for 'A Serious Man' is up for grabs, and we want you to look to your inner film reviewer to win it
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Sheffield Doc/Fest round-up
Sheffield’s annual Doc/Fest is Britain’s largest documentary festival. Edward Lawrenson learnt a few new things by taking the train north.
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now