House of Mirth by Terence Davies

An Edith Wharton book made into a movie starring the X-Files' Gillian Anderson? And Blues Brother Dan Ackroyd? Hmm, do we sense a few actors trying to steer their careers in a new direction? Or a filmmaker told to hire people everyone has heard of? As luck would have it, both actors are comfortable in their roles and do a nice job, I thought, and I'm a picky Masterpiece Theatre grrl. Gillian Anderson in particular is very convincing as a woman trapped and doomed by social pressure (as opposed to extra-terrestrials).

The script sounds as though it was lifted directly from the novel. However, with no narration or context, suddenly huge plot points drift along into a confusing haze. Why couldn't she just marry the lawyer fellow she was in love with, exactly? What was that crucial problem that in our time period seems WAY irrelevant? Or why was so she concerned with her debt to Dan Ackroyd, to the point that she sinks into evil, lower-class oblivion?

To be fair, I do recall being annoyed with all this victimization when I read the book too, and both times I have felt cheated out of the mirth of the title. So okay, this is a social critique exposing a terrible problem experienced by some women in a particular time and place. Once in awhile something resonates to make it a bit more universal than it appears ...despite all that strange hair piled on Scully's head and those pretty costumes. There is conflict between the two main female characters that was very well done, subtle but effective. But Scully is defeated by her clever, conniving enemy and passively pouts her way out of society altogether, grrr. It all made me feel a bit crabby and sad. I would have preferred a post-feminist, Patricia Rozema version of it all.

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