Effie Gray (2014)

Directed by Richard Laxton. Starring Dakota Fanning, Greg Wise, Tom Sturridge, Julie Walters, Emma Thompson, David Suchet, Derek Jacobi, Polly Dartford, Riccardo Scamarcio, James Fox, Robbie Coltrane, Claudia Cardinale, Russell Tovey. [PG-13]

Disappointingly shallow dramatization of the real-life marriage between Victorian writer/critic John Ruskin (Wise) and Euphemia Gray (Fanning), depicting both parties in drastically one-note terms—he’s a cold, indifferent brute and she’s a stifled, anxious victim. The performances follow those characterizations to a hilt, coming to life only in glimmers of stony cruelty and repressed indignation; they’re not bad, per se, but only a few of the supporting players get to toil with specific features and crafty mannerisms. The stodgy, sluggish filmmaking fixes the production into a category of conventional pseudo-intellectualism, and even though the dimly-lit ambience suits the unhappy mood, being “drearily handsome” does no favors for the muted emotional palette and cross-purposed message of empowerment. Co-star Thompson penned the screenplay.

44/100