Bleak House (2005) Review

"Shake me up, Judy!"
~Mr. Smallweed, Bleak House (2005)

My family absolutely loves to quote movies.  It's a rare day in our household that goes by without someone quipping, "Why do I not have a surprised feeling?" or "I'm packing your angry eyes, just in case!" or "Sparkler, be quiet!" or even "My name is Inigo Montoya.   You killed my father.  Prepare to DIE." 

There are lots of movies that have really definitive quotes, quotes that when spoken immediately make everyone who's seen the movie light up in recognition.  I wouldn't be surprised if most of you laughed and nodded when you read the first line of this post.  Charles Dickens' Bleak House might not be the most quotable film ever (actually, as far as Dickens films go, it doesn't have very many memorable quotes) but nobody forgets "Shake me up, Judy!".

I read Bleak House in the fall of 2010--a good friend had recommended it after she heard how much I had liked Little Dorrit.  Thinking I was in for a dreary, depressing story, I picked up the 700-page novel with some trepidation, but I ended up loving it.  Esther Summerson, John Jarndyce, Mr. Guppy, Harold Skimpole, Lady Dedlock, Richard Carstone all leaped off the page at me and left me anxious to see them on the screen. (Because when I read a good book, my usual reaction when it's over is, "Is there a good movie? I MUST SEE IT.") 

My parents watched Bleak House in January or February of 2011, and then in the summer I watched it with Anne-girl.  We thoroughly enjoyed it--not as much as Little Dorrit, because nothin' compares with LD--but it was wonderful in its own way.

Anna Maxwell Martin as Esther Summerson

Dickens is famous for his legions of memorable, colorful characters, and Bleak House is no exception.  Featuring a heroine who is second only to Amy Dorrit in my list of favorite Dickens ladies, Bleak House refutes the idea that Charles Dickens never wrote about women who were anything other than simpering angels.  Esther Summerson is a heroine in every sense of the word (but not in the sense that she's just the girl who marries the hero--because *SPOILER ALERT* she doesn't. *END OF SPOILER*)  Played to perfection by lovely Anna Maxwell Martin, Esther combines gentleness and grace with great strength of character and selflessness.

Esther and Denis Lawson as Mr. Jarndyce

Denis Lawson plays kind Mr. Jarndyce, the real hero of the story.  He doesn't look at all the way I imagined Mr. Jarndyce while reading the book, but I quickly got used to his appearance (as I almost always do).  If you'd like to read more about Mr. Jarndyce's character, go to this post.  I really enjoyed seeing how all the characters interacted with each other in this miniseries--in the case of Mr. Jarndyce and Esther especially, I frequently forgot that I was watching a movie.  It was as if they were standing right there in the room with me, which is, I think, the test of good acting.  Everything felt so real.  

Esther with Carey Mulligan as Ada Clare

Carey Mulligan gives a brilliant performance as sweet, slightly spoiled young Ada Clare--and I have to say, I liked her much better in this role than as the shallow, silly Kitty Bennet of Pride and Prejudice 2005.  She looks exactly the way I pictured Ada, and she plays the character of a naive young girl without being annoying or overly silly.  Ada isn't technically an admirable character (unless you count that she stuck by Richard no matter what--but I would call that foolishness, personally) but she's very sweet and one can't help liking her.  Plus, she has the best clothes of anyone in the movie and that gives her instant Miss Dashwood Points.

Esther and Ada's friendship was another of those elements that just felt so real.  The way they giggled together and confided in each other and teased each other a bit was sweet and fun, and I think this was one of the ways that the movie was a little better than the book.  In the book, you know that Esther and Ada are friends, but their friendship is seen less as a relationship of equal standing and more as an employer/employee thing.  Esther is Ada's companion, after all.  But I liked it better in the movie. ;)

Burn Gorman as Mr. Guppy of Kenge and Carboysh

Since I am rather randomly skipping about from character to character, I now find myself ready to address my angel--er, Mr. Guppy.  (Not my angel.  Just for the record.  He's Esther's angel.  Er, she's HIS angel.  Whatever. I'm getting muddled.)  Burn Gorman is an absolutely hilarious version of the love-struck young lawyer ("of Kenge and Carboysh") who moons about after Esther like a [insert overused cliche here].  From a purely analytic point of view (and mine is anything but, haha) his character seems quite similar to that of John Chivery in Little Dorrit, but there's one big difference.  Whereas John's story is sad and tear-jerking--and you feel so sorry for him at the end--Mr. Guppy's is just funny.  Especially in the scene where he first proposes to Esther.  Sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, adjust coattails, sit down--ooh, here's Miss Summerson! Stand up! My sister and I always get a big kick out of that scene, especially when he nervously offers her "some refreshment" in her OWN house. :P

Patrick Kennedy as Richard Carstone with Ada

In the book, Richard and Ada's relationship annoyed me to no end.  Well, okay, let me rephrase that--RICHARD annoyed me to no end.  The guy has almost everything he could ever want--a kind and devoted guardian, a good education, great opportunities and a gorgeous girlfriend (alliteration much?) yet he chooses to throw most of this away and waste his time on that everlasting Chancery case. Badly done, Richard.  Badly done.

Ada, on the other hand, isn't so bad--actually, I feel quite sorry for her.  If only she'd had a little more backbone, and had been able to tell Richard, "Look, we aren't getting married until you get your act together." But of course he never did get his act together, and all right, all right, I'll admit I was quite sad when Richard *SPOILER ALERT* died. *END OF SPOILER*

Oh, and while we're on the subject, am I seriously the only one who thinks that there's a resemblance between Richard (Patrick Kennedy) and Marius Pontmercy (Michael Ball)? It's not just the hair and the collar--they really do look alike.

See? Told ya.

Speaking of Characters Who Really Annoy Me....

Harold Skimpole.  Nathaniel Parker plays him to a T.  I would like to land a high kick right in his silly astonished face.  'Nuff said.

Skimpole: "But after all I'm nothing but a child..."
Esther: BEWARE MY ANGRY EYES.

Cough, cough.  Moving on...

Alun Armstrong as Inspector Bucket

Charles Dance plays an amazingly evil Mr. Tulkinghorn.  I shuddered every time he came on screen... (but in a good way, not the way I shuddered during the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert every time Nick Jonas came onscreen).  Ahem.  Losing the topic here... I think Mr. Dance would actually make an excellent Scrooge if someone were to adapt A Christmas Carol for the umpteenth time.   Alun Armstrong (you may also know him as Jeremiah Flintwinch and Daniel Pegotty, and I sincerely hope you know him as M. Thenardier) is a fabulous Inspector Bucket.  On the outside, he seems greasy and gross, but as the story progresses and you get to know the Inspector better, he's really quite a likeable fellow. (Despite the scary sideburns.)

Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlock

When I read the book, I wasn't particularly impressed by Lady Honoria Dedlock... but then I saw Gillian Anderson in the role and I was blown away.  I could devote a whole post to this tragically beautiful, mentally tortured woman who made such mistakes in her youth.... *melodramatic music* Without giving anything away, let me just say that a certain scene in which Lady Dedlock tells a certain character a certain secret and reveals that she and this certain character are Rather Closely Related in a certain way.... wow.  Tearjerker moment if I ever saw one, and I've seen plenty.  Also, I adore her ladyship's hair.  If anyone knows how to do it that way, e-mail me the step-by-step instructions ASAP.  Please.

Lady Dedlock's hair might have been gorgous, but
Esther's (at least near the end of the movie) left something
to be desired, IMHO

Richard Harrington does a great job of portraying Allan Woodcourt's humility, loyalty and general all-around-nice-guy-ness, but the fact remains that Allan just doesn't hold a candle to Mr. Jarndyce.  I am really trying desperately hard to keep from spoiling the story for all of you who haven't seen it... but if you read my guest post at Miss Laurie's blog, you already know that Esther marries Allan and not Mr. Jarndyce, right? (And if you didn't, you do now.  Sorry...)  But despite the fact that I feel so very bad for poor, selfless Mr. Jarndyce, I can't help being happy at seeing Esther and Allan together.  I still maintain that Mr. Jarndyce is The Better Man (and since Allan's great, that's saying a lot!) but Esther and "the handsome young surgeon" (as Dickens constantly calls him in the book) simply belong together.

Awww...

And then of course there are all the minor characters, because what would a Dickens story be without at least eight hundred minor characters?  Miss Flite (awww), Mr. Krook (ewww), Mr. Nemo (must find him!), Mr. Kenge (but where's Mr. Carboy?), Sergeant George (yay!), Mrs. Rouncewell (yay again!), Jo (aww), Caddy Jellyby (poor thing), Mr. Turveydrop (I feel a high kick coming on), Mr. Smallweed (just... ew...) and of course the infamous Judy (shake me up!).  They're all amazing.  Oh, and I forgot Hortense.  She's glaring at me.  "You stupid woman!"

As far as intrigue, dastardly deeds, suspense and cliffhangers go, this movie has it all.  At first, I was afraid it might be too creepy (the first episode certainly seems dark enough) but by the end, I was loving it.  Actually, by the second episode, I was loving it.  The theme music, though not as memorable as Little Dorrit's (composed by the same composer, incidentally) was good, but I was rather annoyed by the spooky whooshing in between scenes.  It got old very fast.

Other things I didn't like... well, there really wasn't much.  Mr. Krook's death is beyond gross (and pretty crazy---I mean, I know medical science has come a long way since the Victorian era, but it's hard to believe that people really thought such things could happen) but thankfully the Big Murder Scene (duhn-duhn-duhn!) is not shown.  Overall, I'd say there's actually less blood and gore than there was in Little Dorrit.  (This is a good thing, in case you were wondering.)

On the whole, I would give Bleak House eight stars out of ten.  It was captivating, it was interesting, it was sad, it was funny, it was Charles-J.-H.-Dickens-need-we-say-more?.  

Also, it had one of the best wedding scenes ever, in the history of the whole entire world. And since I'm a sucker for good weddings, I would have forgiven the rest of the movie for being blah (if it were blah.  Which it is not).

In the end, all I can say is that you will be anything but bored to death with it.  Judy? Shake me up!