Showing posts with label The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether. Show all posts

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Stonehearst Asylum

tags: book adaptation, dark, insane asylum
⭐⭐ 

This 2014 movie, currently streaming on Amazon, is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe very short story, a dark comedy, The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether. This movie adaptation could have been good but the writer and director turned it into a predictable and unsatisfactory tale - a lost opportunity. Read the full EAP story here.

Ben Kingsley as always is good as Silas Lamb and he alone deserves the 2 stars. What I don't like is not the predictable twist in the ending. It's the 2 leads I couldn't stand, Kate Beckinsale and Jim Sturgess,  whose mouths are always open. Always. It seems the director was not able to tell these 2 actors to close their mouths whenever there are no dialog. Open mouth acting is a pet peeve of mine. But it's just me probably. This movie placed Kate at the top 5 of my list of untalented actors, Keira Knightley is currently at number 1.