Rating: 
Summary: A noble effort, but...
Review: Henry James' work is far too "literary" to work as a movie. In film, character is revealed through actions. As a novelist, James made use of more subtle devices. As a point of comparision, at the climax of the novel Catherine sends her beloved a letter. In the film, she chases after him in the street and then collapses in a puddle. Despite fine performances by the entire cast, and a rare sensitivity shown by the director, Washington Square is a rather static and uninvolving film.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, how I wept!
Review: I can honestly count on one hand the movies that have ever made me cry, and this is one of them. Maybe it was because I could relate to the characters on a personal level because of circumstances in my own life, but I thought this film was exceptionally moving. The scene that sticks out in my mind (or rather, in my heart,) is where Catherine is chasing after the carriage, screaming for Morris to come back, and he never even turns around and looks at her. She's humiliated, emotionally crushed, and he can't even spare her a moment's glance. I have read the book as well, and this is a rare instance in which I like the movie better. In the book, there's no question about Morris' mercenary motives and he really cares nothing for Catherine; in the movie, the viewer is never quite sure if he's sincere or not. I like being kept guessing on that aspect of the plot! I also liked it that Catherine had grown strong enough to refuse him at the end, because I wasn't too sure that she wouldn't take him back. When he asks if they can still be friends (and who knows what his motive was for that,) her reply of, "You know very well that we were never friends," shows that she has finally become her own person.
Rating:
Summary: If your a romantic don't miss this one!
Review: I loved this movie! I've rented it more than once. Very emotional. This movie has passion, sweetness, romance and tragedy and a few scenes with absolutely beautiful music. I love how the main character develops from a shrinking violet utterly dependant on her father's opinion of her to a passionate and then independant young woman. This movie made me cry. It was sooo good!
Rating:
Summary: I liked it, but it kind of left me wondering....
Review: I really liked the movie-her outfits were hillarious. (the one she wore to the party,) but I never figured out if the guy was a jerk, or did he really love her? When he said that he was after her for the money, did he mean it? Or did he just wsay it because that is what everyone thought?
Rating:
Summary: DECEPTION
Review: I saw an interview once with Jennifer Jason Leigh. I have never seen someone so boring and so utterly dull and personality-less on television. However, she imbues the characters she plays with real lives of their own, and I figure that is how she does it. She does not have a personality of her own, so she adopts the personalities of her characters and really makes a life for each of them. She is a superb actress in all of her roles, virtually disappearing in all of the roles. And she is no different in Washington Square, playing a dim-witted, none too attractive woman who stands to inherit her father's fortune when he dies. Her father (a lovely Albert Finney) disapproves of the relationship she begins with a man who appears to really love her for who she is. (This character is played convincingly enough, although stiffly, by Ben Chaplin). Indeed the story is an unhappy one based on a Henry James novel. Finney had been worried all along that Chaplin was only interested in his daughter for the money she stood to inherit, and it appears that Chaplin has pure intentions, but when it comes right down to it, he is greedy and wants her for her money. She ends up alone and does not inherit anything from her father (she has a modest inheritance from her mother's estate). Chaplin comes to visit her after many years apart, and she tells him simply never to return. It is rather painful to watch Jennifer Jason Leigh in this role because she plays pain so well.
Rating: 
Summary: dull
Review: I waited for the Japanese release of this Henry James adaptation of "Washinton Square", but after 5 years I see no news of it. Now I bought a video of the film, to find the reason why this was neglected in our Japanese market. Well, though I still don't know why, I think I can somehow understand the distributors' unwillingness to release this one. Because the film is a mixed bag. Not that "Washington Square" is a bad film. On the contrary, I would rather like to praise it, but with some reservation. First, remember, the story, based on one of James's earlier works of the same title, is a tragic one. Jennifer Jason Leigh is Catherine Sloper, whose father (Albert Finney) is a respected doctor in New York City of the early 19th century. Though Catherine is a good girl (morally, I mean), she is never praised as a beautiful girl, and she knows it, too. Though her father Dr. Sloper is not cold-hearted, he is emotionally detached from his only daughter while she is desperately seeks for his approval. Thus their life goes on at Washington Square in New York City. Until a handsome man meets Catherine at a tea party, where he advances to her with a golden smile and skilled conversation. He is Morris Townsend (Ben Chaplin, "Lost Souls"), who, it seems, lived a wild life in the past, but now, he says, is back as reformed. Catherine falls in love for the first time in her life, and he says he is willing to marry her, but her father suspects that this young handsome guy is just a cad, good for nothing and after the money which she is to inherit after his death. But is he (doctor) really right in sternly rejecting him and his daughter's wish? The story is melodramatic, but that is not the point. Director Holland allows the actors to be characters they play, so that they realize the complicated relations which are subtlely described in the original book. Certainly it is slow-moving, but if you pay attention not to the plot, but to the emotional changes happening in these people, you will enjoy the film. After all, James is not famous for gripping storytelling; it is his characters and the relations between them that we care, and the film deserves our praise very much for the reason that it brought them to very real thing on screen. But the praise is not unconditional, for there are some questionable decisions made in the film. Holland rendered the piano recital scene a very embarrassing one (like "The Exocist"), but that is totally unnecesary (and the original book does not have Catherine humiliated that way). Casting is also strange. Jason Leigh, herself very good, is, I am afraid, a bit miscast because Catherine should be, I thought, a little younger. Ben Chaplin and Albert Finney are good, but Maggie Smith's meddlesome Mrs. Penniman, who gives some comic (but slightly cruelly depicted) taste, looks uncomfortable. Probably that is because we see her playing more serious, no-nonsense characters, as she did in "Secret Garden" "Gosford Park" and others. Though this is not as good as William Wyler's "The Heiress", director Holland made a splendid job here. Some of the camera work is also superb (see the sweeping movement of the opening scene), but sometimes her direction goes too far, as I pointed out. But as a whole, a very good costume drama.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good Adaptation of Henry James's Tragic Story
Review: I waited for the Japanese release of this Henry James adaptation of "Washinton Square", but after 5 years I see no news of it. Now I bought a video of the film, to find the reason why this was neglected in our Japanese market. Well, though I still don't know why, I think I can somehow understand the distributors' unwillingness to release this one. Because the film is a mixed bag. Not that "Washington Square" is a bad film. On the contrary, I would rather like to praise it, but with some reservation. First, remember, the story, based on one of James's earlier works of the same title, is a tragic one. Jennifer Jason Leigh is Catherine Sloper, whose father (Albert Finney) is a respected doctor in New York City of the early 19th century. Though Catherine is a good girl (morally, I mean), she is never praised as a beautiful girl, and she knows it, too. Though her father Dr. Sloper is not cold-hearted, he is emotionally detached from his only daughter while she is desperately seeks for his approval. Thus their life goes on at Washington Square in New York City. Until a handsome man meets Catherine at a tea party, where he advances to her with a golden smile and skilled conversation. He is Morris Townsend (Ben Chaplin, "Lost Souls"), who, it seems, lived a wild life in the past, but now, he says, is back as reformed. Catherine falls in love for the first time in her life, and he says he is willing to marry her, but her father suspects that this young handsome guy is just a cad, good for nothing and after the money which she is to inherit after his death. But is he (doctor) really right in sternly rejecting him and his daughter's wish? The story is melodramatic, but that is not the point. Director Holland allows the actors to be characters they play, so that they realize the complicated relations which are subtlely described in the original book. Certainly it is slow-moving, but if you pay attention not to the plot, but to the emotional changes happening in these people, you will enjoy the film. After all, James is not famous for gripping storytelling; it is his characters and the relations between them that we care, and the film deserves our praise very much for the reason that it brought them to very real thing on screen. But the praise is not unconditional, for there are some questionable decisions made in the film. Holland rendered the piano recital scene a very embarrassing one (like "The Exocist"), but that is totally unnecesary (and the original book does not have Catherine humiliated that way). Casting is also strange. Jason Leigh, herself very good, is, I am afraid, a bit miscast because Catherine should be, I thought, a little younger. Ben Chaplin and Albert Finney are good, but Maggie Smith's meddlesome Mrs. Penniman, who gives some comic (but slightly cruelly depicted) taste, looks uncomfortable. Probably that is because we see her playing more serious, no-nonsense characters, as she did in "Secret Garden" "Gosford Park" and others. Though this is not as good as William Wyler's "The Heiress", director Holland made a splendid job here. Some of the camera work is also superb (see the sweeping movement of the opening scene), but sometimes her direction goes too far, as I pointed out. But as a whole, a very good costume drama.
Rating:
Summary: The risks one will take in pursuit of love.
Review: I was involved. I cared. I felt all of the actors fit their parts. I puzzled how Morris so quickly spied out his quarry and made his mercenary decision. To me the great drama was the cold overlay on the heart of the father, Dr. Sloper, as juxtaposed to his child's great need and cry for love. Catherine's heart was punched hard by her father and, then, what could have been the finishing blow was struck by her false suitor. But she didn't crumble. Nor did she become bitter. She became her own person and showed a lot of courage; she didn't become bitter or morose. This open view into a human being's need for love and how this need can often be stepped upon makes this, for me, a very powerful movie. Another aspect of this movie that is powerful is how feelings of love can betray us, sway us, change us, color our vision of the world. One needs love, but how to get it. How do we react when it is taken away from us or when it is proven false. This movie made me think about these things, and I liked it very much.
Rating: 
Summary: No thought put into this dvd release
Review: I was really looking forward to this movie release on dvd as this was one of my favorite films the year it came out. I couldn't believe the price! until I saw the finished product. This was truly a waste of a great opportunity to garner more fans of this film. It did seem to sink quietly into obscurity after release though. What I am upset about is that this dvd is non-anamorphic! That means two things to me. That I am not getting the most resolution possible with my toshiba 34" widescreen tv! and that no new transfer was created for this dvd. It looks from the first few frames as if it is just a recycled laserdisc transfer, dirty and somewhat washed out. I'm certainly sick and tired of studios thinking they can make a quick buck by foisting inferior products on us, especially when ALL the major new releases are getting anamorphic transfers, special editions, and extras coming out their ear (even if they extras are plenty pitiful). Do yourself a favor and avoid this release (although the studios will probably take that as a lack of interest in the title rather than a desire for superior craftsmanship).
Rating:
Summary: No thought put into this dvd release
Review: I was really looking forward to this movie release on dvd as this was one of my favorite films the year it came out. I couldn't believe the price! until I saw the finished product. This was truly a waste of a great opportunity to garner more fans of this film. It did seem to sink quietly into obscurity after release though. What I am upset about is that this dvd is non-anamorphic! That means two things to me. That I am not getting the most resolution possible with my toshiba 34" widescreen tv! and that no new transfer was created for this dvd. It looks from the first few frames as if it is just a recycled laserdisc transfer, dirty and somewhat washed out. I'm certainly sick and tired of studios thinking they can make a quick buck by foisting inferior products on us, especially when ALL the major new releases are getting anamorphic transfers, special editions, and extras coming out their ear (even if they extras are plenty pitiful). Do yourself a favor and avoid this release (although the studios will probably take that as a lack of interest in the title rather than a desire for superior craftsmanship).
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