I was familiar enough with the premise to Oscar Wilde's novel " The Picture of Dorian Gray" but had never read it, or watched an adaptation that dealt with the story specifics of the 19th century narcissist. Handily, along comes Oliver Parker's cinematic version of the book, to give me my answers.
Basically, the plot is great (worth of it's illustrious status) while the film is distinctly average. I've put of writing this particular blog update because I couldn't think of much to enthuse or criticise about. The film is solid. Average. It does the business but little more. Well done. Nice job. Do better next time.
The cast are fine with (surprisingly) Colin Firth standing out as the bloke that initially puts Dorian on his immoral questionable path. Rebecca Hall is a down-to-earth presence that's welcomed in the film's final third while Ben Barnes looks the part as Mr Gray himself. His descent from the confidence-lacking teen to smarmy Lothario is convincing but struggles to show the inner moral conflict the Dorian endures. The film's period setting feels authentic thanks to some strong production design and unembarrassing CGI.
If you're unfamiliar with how this plays out, or are partial to a good Victorian supernatural fantasy, you could do worse than to check this out.
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