So, side stepping further mention of Oscar Wilde’s novel and the now going on twenty screen (both small and big) outings of this wonderfully divided character, how does Oliver Parker’s Dorian Gray hold up. It has to be said, sadly, not very well at all.
Dorian Grey - All Fancy Hat and No Trousers (Spoilers)
This Dorian has all its pieces ready and waiting, primed for action: wonderful period sets and costume, an able cast of ‘very’ British thespians and a narrative rich and seething in the seedy decadence of London’s 19th century jet-set. Ironically what it lacks is soul. Like the iconic painting that is hoisted into pride of place at the films beginning, this is a production that never delves deeper than is expected. Most know the story going in, but here director Oliver Parker gives little more to ponder than a quick skim across a story already told.
Colin Firth Exceeds Again at Playing Himself
Those not familiar with this wonderful tale of temptation and greed fueled debauchery may still savage something as, though here largely uninspired, it is one cracking yarn that is extremely hard to get totally wrong (2003’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen not withstanding).
Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray warms up as he sinks deeper into his roles moral midden, but his performance is never one that captivates. There is very little conveyed conflict, tearing anguish or stabbing sorrow at this plight of everlasting youth that has so consumed Master Dorian. We see his demeanor and facial expressions contort from innocence into sneering arrogance, but the heart of the disease is left to fester and spread off screen. A gap as his character disappears to wallow in excess only to return many years later. This is of coarse a major pillar of the source material’s plot, but nonetheless - on screen - it seems to steal the best of Dorian's fall.
Colin Firth (The King's Speech) as boorish manipulator Lord Henry Wotton fares better. Cast here against type as a perfectly enunciating, snotty, upper class British tuxedo wearer. That said he does shovel deep into a role that he could have just about played with his eyes closed.
Ben Chaplin as Basil Hallward, the artist responsible for the novels titular artwork is also very much on form. Yet that perhaps is the bulk of Dorian Grey’s problem. It is all too familiar, too seamlessly pompous and too lacking in that most cherished of Oscar Wildeian staples – wit. Emilia Fox (Cashback) shows up late as Lady Victoria Wotton, a fine actress that here seems as tacked on as the films fleeting attention to homosexuality. A shame as hers is a character that, more than the painting itself, had the ability to reflect for Dorian the actual reality of his worth.
The Death of Dorian Grey
Dorian Gray’s denouement is a fiery example of substance over style. The portrait and the man meeting again within an ungodly soup of bad CGI, B-movie groaning and forced melodrama. A final smoky death to a film that forgets the horror is not hiding beneath the brush-stroke, but rather within the soul of poor Dorian himself.
Dorian Gray
Tagline… Forever Young. Forever Cursed.
- Director… Oliver Parker (St. Trinians)
- Writers… Oscar Wilde (novel), Toby Finlay (first-time screenplay)
- Cast:
- Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) as Dorian Gray, Colin Firth (The King's Speech) as Lord Henry Wotton, Emilia Fox (Cashback) as Lady Victoria Wotton, Ben Chaplin (Chromophobia) as Basil Hallward
- DVD Release Date… August 24, 2010 (US)
- Runtime… 112 minutes
- View Trailer: Dorian Gray
Hari Navarro - Hari Navarro is Topic Editor for Suite 101's Horror Film section and Editor/ Writer at online horror review site, The Hell Street ...
Join the Conversation