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He Knew He Was Right by Tom Vaughan
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DVD detailsActor: Anna Massey, Bill Nighy, Geoffrey Palmer, Laura Fraser (II), Oliver Dimsdale Director: Tom Vaughan Brand: Warner Brothers DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.1 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 235 minutes DVD Release Date: 2005-01-25 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Reviews of He Knew He Was RightDVD Review: Not worth owning Summary: 1 StarsFor those of you who fill your shelves with BBC period films because the plots are more complex and cleaner than today's fare, don't bother with this one.
There is nothing redeeming about this film aside from excellent production values. The main character is intent on misjudging his bride throughout the movie and the whole production winds down into a depressing and uninspiring death scene. There is no moral high-ground here, no lessons to be learned to make the hours worth spending, not even the mildly endearing subplot can rescue this dismal storyline.
I love period films, but I wish I hadn't bothered to pay for this one. I agree with the reviewer who suggested you rent it if you MUST watch every period film out there, but if the responses of those who have borrowed this film from me are any proof, they hated it as much as I do. I've stopped offering it to those who come by to borrow films.
DVD Review: Boring Flat Main Story, Somewhat Funny side story, Disjointed Passionless Summary: 3 StarsI wouldn't buy this one, rental only. The story is flat, happy couple gets married then jealousy and the resulting madness ensue with a struggle for custody thrown in. He was somewhat justified in his suspicions, but then goes mad and turns hateful and distrusting of the world and then intends to teach this to his son but dithers and relents only to kill himself through worry. I think the wives unbending and non-sacrifice with such a lack of understanding and empathy done with such a calm babe in the woods demeanor is horrible on her part as well, he wasn't asking for the world.
No effort to flesh out the husbands background and own growing up to help explain such a bizarre spiral is made, making this a very weak effort indeed. Both the husband and wives acting are very much flat as well, we expected it to build to something more passionate and concrete only to be shown a sort of whimper and then predictable end in unspecified death used interminably in Victorian literature.
The only interesting and entertaining part is the priest and his vacillations with respect to a number of women who seem to think he's so great. It's a funny interlude and contrast to the quite boring main story, oddly the two don't really intersect making for a disjointed production.
This just isn't in the same league as Pride, NorthSouth, Bleak House, WivesDaughters or a number of other English novel adaptations, you could skip it and not miss much.
DVD Review: A Good Film Summary: 4 StarsThis movie has a good plot---The one or two sex scenes are very tame.
I'd rate them with a G rating.The lead gentleman thught he was right
about his wife's infidelity and lost everything.Good English acting. Shows English women as we have read them to be.
19th Century Britlit Classic
DVD Review: Good subplots Summary: 3 StarsThe main story was depressing, but have to admit that the subplots were very good: one involving a Bishop and two "French" women, and another a very demanding spinster. Bill Nighy's character was quite amusing in a poppycock way, although his behavior was at the root of the evil that led to the main character's decline.
Okay, but if it wasn't for the subplots, would not have enjoyed.
DVD Review: Downer Summary: 1 StarsVery disappointed! What a downer. I am so glad there were sub plots otherwise it would have been a worthless mess! I do not reccomend this movie. It is frustrating to watch it. The way it is advertised to get you to buy it is deceiving. If I had only known what the outcome was to be I would have never bought this one. It's so sad you won't want to watch it a 2nd time. Borrow it from a library or a friend who is dumb enough to buy it like me!! Oh Well
Description of He Knew He Was RightStudio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/16/2006 Rating: Nr Novelist Anthony Trollope doesn't have the name recognition of his Victorian contemporary Charles Dickens, but he has all of Dickens's strengths and more--invigorating plots, eccentric characters bursting with life, and an insightful, panoramic view of English society. He Knew He Was Right starts with an idyllic romance between the well-off Louis Trevelyan (Oliver Dimsdale) and Emily Rowley (Laura Fraser). But when the rakish Col. Osborne (Bill Nighy, Love Actually) begins to visit her regularly, Louis becomes jealous--and the pressures of Victorian society soon turn this jealousy into an all-consuming possession that could destroy the lives of Louis, Emily, and their young son. This dark and harrowing story is deftly juxtaposed with two related tales: A blithely flirtatious clergyman finds himself fought over by a pair of squabbling sisters and a young woman struggles to find happiness despite the controlling grip of her miserly spinster aunt (the always superb Anna Massey, Angels & Insects, The Importance of Being Earnest). The cast delivers wonderfully comic or heartbreaking performances, but much of this four-episode series' power comes from yet another outstanding adaptation by screenwriter Andrew Davies, who wrote the scripts for such BBC miniseries as Moll Flanders, Vanity Fair, and the hugely popular version of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. The combination of Davies and Trollope results in a work of psychological depth, sly humor, and sheer storytelling mastery--just when you've decided someone is virtuous or odious, that character upends your judgment with an act unexpected yet completely plausible. He Knew He Was Right provides the pleasures of a thriller, a social satire, and a whirling romance. --Bret Fetzer
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