By Joe Hammerschmidt
When it comes to period dramas, I can’t ever bring myself to care about them. Nearly 100% of the time, they run too long and they rarely make any sense. What writer-director Roger Mitchell (“Notting Hill”) accomplishes with his adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel “My Cousin Rachel” is something I hadn’t thought possible: a period piece that tells a definitive story, keeps the pacing straightforward, and the characters convincing, in a spry 106-minute runtime. Despite managing to hold my attention throughout, the film unfortunately takes a wrong turn at the very end, stopping the plot in its tracks as its full effect had begun to ripple on audiences.
Such a polarizing nature targeted to anyone eager enough for a break from big-budget blockbusters will immediately recognize the palpability in chemistry, between both Rachael Weisz as manipulative heiress Rachel, and Sam Claflin as her joyless cousin Phillip. As the black sheep in his family, he was never quite satisfied with one thing alone, amidst his livestock and servants, in a masculinity-driven manor. His adoptee, cousin Ambrose (also played by Claflin in early flashback scenes) asks for Phillip to join him in Florence in the wake of his own ailing health and a failing relationship with Rachel, assumedly a cousin to the pair. As Phillip finds Ambrose dead out of surprise, he immediately suspects her of murder and seeks to vow revenge. Even with outsider concern from family friend Nick Kendall (Iain Glen) and daughter Louise (Holliday Granger), who’s rather enamored by Phillip, his descent into a tangled trap of deceit and poor ethics will seek no stoppage.
This is a role tailor-made for Weisz, who had impressed me too well last summer collaborating with Derek Cianfrance for “The Light Between Oceans”. Even when she doesn’t speak, her presence invokes the rawest of nerves to shiver. Equal parts cunning and clever, Rachel (the character) is simply evil, yet on the surface that doesn’t appear possible. It’s only through exploring her motives to which her simple nature is revealed. Claflin’s character is the right kind of clueless, in that he’ll of course fall for her wicked charms, and pay the heavy burden; his performance, not that far off the mark he set as the handicapped playboy in “Me Before You”, yet dramatic enough to stand out from past roles, makes a fair counter against Weisz, and proof his stock as an actor will only rise higher with time. Both Glen and Granger also provide subtle support as just those friends who care, yet don’t quite know how exactly to help.
Already having been put to film twice before, with Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton having headlined the most notable iteration, Mitchell’s approach is as straightforward, yet not without faults. Despite the plot showing actual urgency and energy, there’s still a fight against stagnation to be experienced. Sure, the cliffs of Dover will always look pretty, and its symbolic presence throughout the picture need not be ignored; however, those same cliffs, and their deadly intensity foreshadow how this story nearly veers off the page. The sexual chemistry between both Rachel and Phillip almost sends off the wrong idea, almost leaving the audience to question who’s the most wrong: Rachel for having committed murder, or Phillip for falling victim to his cousin’s manipulative mind games. From a moral standpoint, one should be expected to root for snivelling and almost cowardly male lead, especially in the final scenes, where he still struggles in coming to a proper conclusion about his slowly devaluing relationship to the sinister Rachel. That hokey charade wears out its welcome too quickly, with Rachel posing as the more dominant figure, to the surprise of no one.
“My Cousin Rachel” will play best in the mind as a fair arthouse counter versus the glut of big-budget fare, yet don’t be expecting a rewarding experience. Just as the mismatchedness of the second act begins to wear off, the film suddenly ends, with more questions than answers posed. One can find quality acting/directing, an emotionally stirring score through Rael Jones, and captivating imagery by Mike Eley, effortlessly blending rural with lavish together, and pleasing both eyes in the process. yet the method of storytelling may leave you wanting the original novel slightly more appealing. A bit stuck up about itself, Mitchell overthinks the source material, and the two leads to the point where one is almost impossible to take seriously. Thankfully, the other’s work balances any scales which were wrongly tipped. Weisz is the champion which makes this journey of forbidden love and hierarchichal advancement worth embarking, provided expectations aren’t set too high. (C+)
“My Cousin Rachel” opens today at select area theaters; rated PG-13 for some sexuality and brief strong language; 106 minutes.
