Brideheads Revisited, the movie

Since I loved the 1981 mini-series Brideheads Revisited based on Evelyn Waugh's novel, I was reluctant to see the 2008 version. And, as to be expected, I was disappointed by the movie which runs at 2 hours and 14 minutes, compared to the 8ish hour mini-series. The barely scratches of the surface of the complex and wonderful characters rife in Waugh's book. What happened to the lovable Sebastian? The movie offers a very superficial version of his character-- Maybe I am disappointed because I miss the wonderful Anthony Andrews Sebastian. (On a side note -- there is only a passing glance of Aloysius, Sebastian's stuffed bear) I liked Matthew Goode who plays as Charles Ryder, and I liked the Julia, Hayley Atwell. But because the movie was trying to do so much so quickly, none of the actors had a chance to delve into their characters. The filmmakers decided to amp up the gay and the catholic in the movie. Make Sebastian more flamboyant and overt in his love for Charles --not too mention the actor is so fey, thin and wispy that he seems like he is going to float away. They also oversimplified the Catholic conflicts throughout the movie, so the movie-goer never really gets why the Flytes are so tortured. Finally, the great Emma Thompson seemed wasted in this movie. She hit one note, dour Catholic mama.

So instead of watching this movie and if you happen to have 8 hours of time on your hands for great TV watching -- watch the 1981 mini-series which I re-watched last summer -- I was entranced all over again. But pass on the the latest movie version.

Check out my list of great min-series too!