"Lead by two really unknown actors the love story is allowed to be told for all it's problems and over the top characters in a universe that feels both new but old"
If it was not for the cast of actors the film was able to get I never would have watched the film because I just imagined not being able to handle another supernatural romance story. The film tells the story of small town boy Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) when he meets Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) who seems to change his life with how different she is from the Christ worshiping people of the small town that seem to turn away anybody new. Lurking also in the film is the story of dark magic that may change the faith of these characters for either the good or bad.
Making the female counterpart the supernatural character was quite different from past teenage romance stories and made for a more interesting story. The film did not feel like it went on for too long because of how fun the film felt at times to see some of these great British actors doing what I would call horrible southern accents especially in the case of Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson. The production people of the film did not seem to take any care since at times the visual effects and cinematography of the film did look good at all which was a negative to the film. The film was interesting to watch even when I was annoyed having characters to explain everything for people whom have not read the books the film was based on (I did not read the books myself but did not need an explanation).
Alice Englert might breakout with this film even though the first thing I really remembered her in was when I saw her play Rosa in last year's "Ginger and Rosa". I did not like her much in that film but in this film she made more of an impression on me as her performance was both convincing and had a natural feel to it. It's funny that she is the daughter of director/writer Jane Campion. Alden Ehrenreich played the mortal Ethan and while I was unsure of his performance at the start of the film his performance became better as the film went on. Emmy Rossum only appeared in small scenes playing Ridley Duchannes and she mixed both her flare for comedy and drama and if only she was given more to do she would have stole the movie. Other actors also doing good work in the film and also looking they were having fun was Jeremy Irones playing the same character he always plays, Emma Thompson playing both good and bad and Viola Davis doing some good work which involved her sitting in a church once again (every movie she makes her character has to sit at the aisle of a church).
The film was enjoyable to watch for the actors and an unexpected turn on romance. However watching the film did feel hard at times to see the bad production work on the film that seemed like an afterthought for the people involved.
MOVIE GRADE: B- (MVP: Alice Englert)
If it was not for the cast of actors the film was able to get I never would have watched the film because I just imagined not being able to handle another supernatural romance story. The film tells the story of small town boy Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) when he meets Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) who seems to change his life with how different she is from the Christ worshiping people of the small town that seem to turn away anybody new. Lurking also in the film is the story of dark magic that may change the faith of these characters for either the good or bad.
Making the female counterpart the supernatural character was quite different from past teenage romance stories and made for a more interesting story. The film did not feel like it went on for too long because of how fun the film felt at times to see some of these great British actors doing what I would call horrible southern accents especially in the case of Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson. The production people of the film did not seem to take any care since at times the visual effects and cinematography of the film did look good at all which was a negative to the film. The film was interesting to watch even when I was annoyed having characters to explain everything for people whom have not read the books the film was based on (I did not read the books myself but did not need an explanation).
Alice Englert might breakout with this film even though the first thing I really remembered her in was when I saw her play Rosa in last year's "Ginger and Rosa". I did not like her much in that film but in this film she made more of an impression on me as her performance was both convincing and had a natural feel to it. It's funny that she is the daughter of director/writer Jane Campion. Alden Ehrenreich played the mortal Ethan and while I was unsure of his performance at the start of the film his performance became better as the film went on. Emmy Rossum only appeared in small scenes playing Ridley Duchannes and she mixed both her flare for comedy and drama and if only she was given more to do she would have stole the movie. Other actors also doing good work in the film and also looking they were having fun was Jeremy Irones playing the same character he always plays, Emma Thompson playing both good and bad and Viola Davis doing some good work which involved her sitting in a church once again (every movie she makes her character has to sit at the aisle of a church).
The film was enjoyable to watch for the actors and an unexpected turn on romance. However watching the film did feel hard at times to see the bad production work on the film that seemed like an afterthought for the people involved.
MOVIE GRADE: B- (MVP: Alice Englert)