Terribly miscast ....
Wow. Talk about miscasting! Ralph Fiennes is a beautiful hunk of man, and Juliette Binoche is undeniably lovely, but neither of them should EVER attempt to play characters that are supposed to range in age from late teens to late thirties. They belong solidly at the far end of that spectrum, and watching them try to pretend to be anything but is utterly ridiculous. Witness the scene where the family is supposed to be studying their Bibles and Catherine and Heathcliff cannot stop giggling and teasing one another, or where Heathcliff whines that Catherine spends more days with the Lintons than she does with him. Ugh. Additionally, Binoche turns Catherine into a flighty, stupid girl, with none of the original heroine's wild spirit and hot temper. (Nor does Binoche even TRY to suppress her French accent.)Good things: yes, the storyline stays close to the book, more so than I ever expected of a Hollywood adaption. Also, the sets are good, and the scenery is lush and haunting.
However, don't expect to drool over the costumes; they are nothing special, and for some mysterious reason, everyone's hair looks HORRIBLE. It seems the director thought the problem of Fiennes' ethnicity could be solved merely by plopping a greasy black wig on his head. Instead, you want to lob a shampoo bottle at him. And Binoche's looks like some terrible, unflattering '80s nightmare, and it all but destroys her sex appeal. (I'm sorry to waste so much time on something as shallow as everyone's hairstyle, but after a while of cringing at everything else that was bad, it was all I could focus on!)
score 2/10
kitsune822004 5 August 2007
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1706576/35077
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