Another failed attempt

steven-222

Like waves crashing against a rock, filmmakers keep trying to make their own version of Wuthering Heights. The waves (and movies) inevitably break apart, while the rock (and the novel) remain.

Let me state a bias: Wuthering Heights is one of our greatest works of fiction. It's great not just in bits and pieces, but in its totality, because of the way the whole shocking, heart-wrenching story is resolved. So why can't filmmakers stick to the story, instead of mucking it up? This version has some okay bits and pieces, but as it wears on the acting gets as broad as those glued-on sideburns on all the men. The filmmakers want to show action, I suppose, so we get lots of scenes of squabbling between the various parties, and pretty soon the timeless story of Heathcliff and Cathy is just another Jerry Springer dysfunctional drama-fest.

Worst is the botched ending, which utterly, irrevocably, stupidly misses the whole point of the story. A bit like having Frodo jump into the volcano at the end.

I give it 2 stars in pity, not in anger. (Sigh.)

score 2/10

steven-222 27 January 2009

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2015376/