Listen, I love a good costume drama as much as anybody, but this adaptation of Jane Eyre sucks. It sucks because the filmmakers completely failed to develop the relationship between Rochester and Jane. They wrote no dialog for them!! I know I am always bitching about how most modern films have “no dialog,” but it’s true, and this film is a perfect example. Jane and Rochester just kind of look at each other, exchange a few words, and then he is all set to rip her clothes off! Wasikowska plays Jane like some postmodern twit (she recycled her performance from The Kids Are Alright, in my opinion) who is off in her own androgynous, spaced-out little world. I know it’s been a while since I read the book, but even I remember Jane being a lot spunkier and verbose. Moreover, Jane and Rochester had a RELATIONSHIP, meaning they talked to each other. It wasn’t just him abstractly longing for her bony ass. So the whole movie basically comes down to whether you believe that Rochester would rather fuck Mia Wasikowska than Imogen Poots. Personally, I don’t buy it for one second.
The only other thing I would like to comment on is the score. What a disaster! Who scores an over-the-top funeral dirge for a freaking love story, no matter how dark! How can you get swept up in a love story if there is always this ridiculous, droning music bashing you over the head with “this story is eventually tragic, people, don’t forget it! It’s all gonna end bad! Everything you are seeing is tinged with hopelessness and the epic disaster to come ….” The golden rule is that music should amplify the emotions of the characters, not distract from them. Jane Eyre gets an F in this category.
Lastly, I was kind of shocked to see that Rochester had Penelope Cruz locked in his attic. What was his problem, exactly?
My wife is a Jane Austen / Jane Eyre kinda girl. She really wanted to see this. She thought it sucked too.
I say, skip it.
Irreviews 