Dreaming of Joseph Lees

Catherine Linstrum's original screenplay, a melodrama set in the '50s, is something of a potboiler - Somerset mill lass Eva (Morton) nurses a deep fancy for Joseph Lees, her absent geologist cousin (Graves), but succumbs to stolid, persistent Harry (Ross), only to be impaled on a dilemma when Joseph returns unexpectedly. Graves' character, a minor counties English Patient, with his scarred history and amputated leg, is standard Mills & Boon; and there are extravagant developments which make you gawp or check your neighbour. The director, however, treats the story with seriousness, intensity and commitment, and Graves brings a sadness and decency to his part. But the reality and sheer freshness that Morton brings to a role - see her smiling and admiring witty teenage sister Janie (Richardson, a natural) - makes the movie.