Rating: 
Summary: Gillian Anderson was robbed of an Oscar nomination
Review: For all of those who believe Gillian Anderson cannot escape the bounds of her Dana Scully character on the X-files, one look at "The House of Mirth" will change that opinion. From the moment she walks out of the cloud of steam created by a train and turns her veiled face to Eric Stoltz, she completely transcends Scully. Anderson plays Lily Bart, who's gambling habit and tendancy to fraternize with men leads to her social downfall in turn of the century New York. She knows she should marry a man with money, but she loves Stoltz's character, Lawrence Seldon, a young attorney who is financially secure but not well off. Through a series of social blunders and failures to understand the motives of several characters, Lily soon finds herself on the outside of society living as a drug addict and making hats. Gillian Anderson plays Lily with such heart-breaking stubborness that most of the time you want to climb through the screen and shake her. But this is a typical Edith Wharton story, and the good guys rarely, if ever, come out on top. Watching Anderson's physical change is one of the most amazing aspects of this film. In the beginning, she is bright and bubbly with a perfect complexion and clear eyes. By the end, her exhaustion and addiction is palpable--her entire body seems to have changed in some way. Here's hoping that more parts like this await Gillian Anderson when she breaks free from X-files.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, tragic movie
Review: When I first found out they were filming this movie, I couldn't wait to see it. I read the book that summer, and fell in love with the story completely. After that I looked forward to the movie even more, and when I finally got to see it, I was not disappointed. I had been told it would never get to theatres here, so I pre-ordered it on DVD from the UK and had it delivered just a few days after it was released. At the time, I didn't even own a DVD-player -- I was just happy to finally own the movie, even if I couldn't see it yet. Of course that didn't last long. The following weekend, I bought myself a DVD-player. I finally watched the movie that same afternoon, and I... fell in love. This is a beautiful, tragic, moving and touching film -- a true masterpiece. How they failed to give Gillian Anderson an Oscar nomination is still a mystery. Her portrayal of Lily Bart is not only moving and truthful -- it is pure brilliance. As we get to follow Lily's descent in society, we feel for her. When she cries, our hearts break for her. When she loses her spark, something inside of us dies as well. But at the same time, something is brought to life inside of us -- the appreciation for a performance as good as this; something you will carry with you for a long time. This is really Gillian Anderson's movie, despite the fact that she has many great co-actors (the love-scenes with Eric Stoltz's Selden are sizzling with underlying passion, and Laura Linney's Bertha is just pure evil). Buy it, watch it, feel it and ultimately fall in love with it.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Performance by Gillian Anderson
Review: The depth and breadth of the character created by Gillian Anderson was stunning -- like a multi-faceted jewel. The supporting cast is excellent, as well, and the interweaving of character and story is deeply moving.
Rating:
Summary: She Knew What She Wanted...
Review: I thought this movie was exquisitely done. The performances, all of them, were magnificent. I could feel the love and tenderness between Lily (Gillian Anderson) and Selden (Eric Stoltz). There too few moments together were some of the most tender and magnetic moments on the screen. This movie is a fine adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel about early 1900's society life, when young ladies were groomed to marry wealthy husbands, rather than educated or taught useful skills. Lily's descent from high society independence to useless working class and
drug dependency is worth the watch.
Rating:
Summary: House of Mirth
Review: Terence Davies is a phenomenal director and a great cook!Mix:
elegance
deception
vanity
greed
honor
lust
love
loyalty Cook: low to medium to hot heat Servings: infinite Oh yes the acting. The cast is superb!
Gillian Anderson......oh my gosh...Is that really her on the screen? She is a chameleon. I highly recommend this movie. It is a movie made in a style rarely seen.
Buy it! You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: B O R I N G
Review: I love her in the X-files, but this was the worst movie to break her into film starring roles. I hated her character and couldn't wait to see her get what she deserved in the end. She was spolled, selfish and stuck up. She had it coming... love was right in her face! When I was done watching it I took the DVD I had rented and threw it out the window... just don't tell Blockbuster.
Rating:
Summary: Wharton's sort of lousy, but Davies redeems it
Review: Gillian Anderson is absolutely devastating in Terrance Davies' brilliant adaptation of Wharton's great trash novel. The film is surely stifling at times, but the material couldn't be handled any other way. We need to feel as claustrophobic as Lily Bart if we're meant to understand her circumstance. The film's look and direction understand this quite well. When the camera is freed from a sitting room, however, the we feel an absolute senese of freedom. There is mirth here for the audience, if not for Lily. Laura Linney, with great economy, turns in her best performance of 2000 (forget You Can Count on Me), and Dan Ackroyd shows a mean streak he never even hinted at before. It's soap opera-style tragedy at its absolute finest, infused with a great deal of restraint and class.
Rating:
Summary: A Keatsian Triumph
Review: Gillian Anderson's exceptionally sensitive performance makes this film a wonderful adaptation. Although this particular screenplay focuses more sharply on Lily's social fall (e.g. Grace Stepney and Gertie Farish are fused into Grace), the effect is no less profound. Laura Linney does a stunning job of playing the execrable Bertha Dorset (second only to Lawrence's Hermione in the literary slime hall of fame). Linney combines just the right amount of smugness and smoothly manipulated ignorance; thus she embodies perfectly the monstrous society whose contradictory rules ultimately take Lily's life. Eric Stotlz plays the anti-hero Selden with great tenderness, and the relationship between him and Lily is probably one of the most intricately beautiful moments ever captured on screen.
Rating: 
Summary: Stellar version of Edith Wharton's novel
Review: For fans of Edith Wharton's novel (and fans of period pieces in general), you will be relieved to know that this film stays true to Wharton's story. Critics and audiences griped that this film (directed by Terence Davies) was too long--and at 2 hours and 20 minutes, it does demand something of the viewer. But fans of Wharton and films set in this era (early 1900s New York) will find it gripping. The film tells the story of Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson of "X-Files" fame), a society woman who has little money of her own and lives with her demanding aunt. Lily is beautiful, but foolish about money and men--and these two things become her downfall. She has debts from playing cards with other members of the upper crust, and she steadfastly refuses to become more involved with Lawrence Selden (Eric Stoltz), her true love, because he lacks the money to support her in the style to which she is accustomed. Lily chases after a wealthy husband, but every time that she seems on the verge of making a match, her mistakes come back to haunt her. She foolishly trusts Gus Trenor (Dan Aykroyd) to invest her money for her--but Trenor, smitten with Lily, ultimately uses her debts to blackmail her as reputation becomes more and more tarnished. Lily's downfall is tragic--the final 40 minutes are so are very bleak, but this is true not only to Wharton's novel, but also to the plight of women in that era, whose value was only defined by their marriageability. There is solid acting almost all the way around. Gillian Anderson looks lovely and works the full range of emotions demanded of her. Eric Stoltz as Selden seems like a calm and stable center in this world of flighty and poisonous people. And Laura Linney, as the woman who does the most to bring about Lily's downfall, is perfection. This film is tough going, but extremely well done. Davies captures the suffocating atmosphere of upper-crust life in 1900s New York, and Gillian Anderson makes for a remarkable heroine.
Rating:
Summary: LOVE AND HONOR AT WHAT PRICE...
Review: In this beautifully costumed and lavish period piece based upon Edith Wharton's novel of the same name, Gillian Anderson gives an inspired and luminous performance as Lily Bart, a rising young New York socialite who is ultimately done in by a ruthless friend , deliciously played by Laura Tinney, who cruelly sacrifices Lily to save her own reputation. The dry repartee in which Lily engages and passes for wit in this bygone era sets the tone for the film. It is a carefully orchestrated show in which marriageable society girls engage in order to snag the wealthiest suitor. While Lily Bart is the cream of the crop, she has the misfortune to have given her heart to a socially acceptable, yet financially constrained, lawyer, Laurence Selden, wonderfully portrayed by Eric Stoltz. Her heart claimed by this most unsuitable of suitors, she dallys, refusing to commit to any others, while her star is still on the ascent. Lily finds herself making an unwise financial transaction which puts her at the mercy of an unscrupulous and smarmy financial investor named Gus Trennor, well played by Dan Akroyd. When he puts Lily in a compromising position in return for the money he now claims that she owes him, she indignantly spurns his advances and incurs his emnity. Meanwhile, her aunt, upon whom Lily is financially dependent, hearing of her financial indiscretion, is appalled and vitually cuts Lily out of her will, leaving her a small determinate sum, rather than making Lily her sole heir as expected. Meanwhile, her friend, devilishly played by Laura Tinney, is on the verge of having her marital indiscretions made known to her circle of society friends. She throws everyone off the scent by cutting her friend Lily in a most public fashion with all the attendant insinuations from which much may be inferred. This has the net effect of causing Lily to fall totally into social disgrace. Her star is now very much on the descent. When her aunt dies, and Lily is left virtually penniless, Lily finds herself alone and on a downward spiral, forced to earn her daily bread for the first time in her life. Abandoned by her friends, she despairs, even though she has the means of regaining her former status at her fingertips, would her information not also sully the reputation of her true love, Lawrence Selden, as well as that of the false friend who brought her to this point. To her detriment, she takes the high road of love and honor. Too late, Selden realizes the sacrifice that Lily has made on his behalf. What happens to Lily and why is an interesting study of human frailties, class consciousness, social status, and honor. This film is a beautifully and richly costumed period piece with bravura perfomances by the entire cast. Those who are fond of period dramas will surely enjoy this film.
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