Rating: 
Summary: If you have any discerning taste, SKIP this one
Review: I'll admit that usually I'm not a big fan of "period pieces", but this one takes the cake. This was SO boring. No, I didn't read the Henry James novel; perhaps the book is good. This movie wasn't. There are some other "period pieces" (i.e. Wings of the Dove, Shakespeare in Love) that I have liked, but I simply couldn't get involved in this "I love him / all he wants is your inheritance" tedium.
Rating: 
Summary: "AXE LIZZIE BORDEN........"
Review: IF Lizzie lived next door, she's have taken this poor waif under her wings and taught this Papa a thing or two!No, blunt instruments are not used in this brilliant adaptation of the James novel, directed with equal aplomb by Agnieszka Holland, they injure and destroy each other verbally, especially dear Papa. Almost Ingmar Bergman territory it's a sad picture of an only daughter [mama did not survive the birth], suffering Papa's strange ingratitude. Just WHAT is his problem? Albert Finney is excellent as this cold heart. Jennifer Jason Leigh? A perfect Catherine! We witness the childhood [not seen in the earlier and equally excellent different de Havilland vehicle "The Heiress"]. We suffer through first and only love with this woman and witness the dreadful betrayal, both by lover and father. It's the father, though, who elicits greater passion from the audience. A queer Victorian relic, complete with doddering cohort, Maggie Smith - flawless as usual in a somewhat unsympathetic role. Ben Chaplin is the young Knight with the slightly colorful past, and unlike the original ending [Montgomery Clift at the front door] this one ends on a slightly upbeat coda. It's another brilliant 'portrait of a lady' by Henry James.
Rating:
Summary: Cool
Review: Ive never seen this movie, but my friend is in it SO IT HAS TO BE GOOD!
Rating: 
Summary: love hurts
Review: Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as Catherine Sloper,a clumsy,shy and innocent only daughter of Doctor Sloper(Albert Finney). Her mother died at her birth and her father doesn't seem to like Catherine much. Morris Townsend(Ben Chaplin)falls in love with her but he's not rich and her father starts to believe that Morris just wants to marry Catherine for her money. If she marries Morris her father will disinherit her. What will Catherine do? The performances of Jennifer Jason Leigh and the handsome Ben Chaplin are fine. So is Albert Finney role as the strict father. The music of the movie is beautiful. Though the ending was not what I expected,(I actually felt disappointed)I actually can say that I liked the movie(after I watched for the second time). If you like period movies, like me, you should take a look at Washington Square.
Rating:
Summary: Pitiful
Review: One word to describe this movie PITIFUL.
Do yourself a favor invest in the older version The Heiress,you will not be disappointed
Rating:
Summary: Paradise Denied
Review: Perhaps one of the most exasperating romances of all time and yet the subtle message throughout are delightfully entertaining. You are left to make up your own mind as to the true intentions of the characters. This is the passionate story of a young heiress who is destined to choose between love and wealth. Her father (Albert Finney) disapproves of the man she loves and feels that if she marries a man who cannot take care of her, her mother died in childbirth in vain. Morris Townsend (Ben Chaplin) is a handsome yet impecunious young man who sweeps her off her feet and shows her a world she longs to live in. Catherine (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is naïve and shy and when she falls for Morris so fast, we can only assume she is consumed by his words, the stories he tells her and how he makes her laugh and feel about herself. She almost faints in his presence, so strong is the effect he has on her. He knows what a woman wants to hear. "I never imagined I'd be taken like this...I heard tales of this, this thing. But I suspected it was an idea originated by mercenary novelists. Now I find myself, I find myself performing the most useless tasks in the hope that I'll find a moments respite from thinking of you. I'm quite overcome." -Morris Townsend Morris is determined to play the game of love and he wants to find the key that will
unlock the gate to Catherine's heart. Once he finds the key, he uses it to his advantage, all the while also wanting to find the key to her father's soul. When he fails to find a way to gain her father's approval, he starts to act irrationally and shallow. Catherine's aunt seems to be living out her own fantasy of forbidden love and while she thinks she is working a magic love spell with the best of her intentions, she has in fact helped to concoct a strange and cruel curse. When Morris shuts the door on Catherine's fantasy by saying he wanted her, but wanted her with her money, it is too cruel a fate. Did he mean what he said? Was he only mocking her controlling father who was impervious to pity. Passionate with a powerful message of how strong women can be when looking into the eyes of a cruel fate. This is about a woman who gains confidence and some sense of satisfaction, yet loses what she wanted most, love.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty But Dull
Review: This adaptation, like 1949's *The Heiress*, is based on the Henry James novel. *The Heiress*, starring Olivia de Havilland, remains as a well-respected piece of work, though less true to James' original story than this new remake, which retains James' original title. It is the story of a awkward, yet loving daughter , devoted to her father after her mother dies during childbirth. The arrogant father holds his daughter in no esteem whatsoever, and considers her, as well as all women, simpleminded. When a young man of good family and little fortune comes courting, the Father is naturally suspicious, but feeling so sure that his daughter could hold no interest for any man, is convinced that the young man is a fortune hunter and forbids her to see him. Leigh is a controversial actress - most either love her or hate her - and she always has a particular edginess and tenseness to her style, like she's acting through gritted teeth. She's not bad in this, and she handles her role relatively deftly - it's just an awkward role for any actress, making the audience want to grab the character by her shoulders and shake her until she comes to her senses. While the character garners a lot of sympathy, she's not particularly likable. The very handsome and immensely appealing Ben Chaplin (previously seen in *The Truth About Cats and Dogs*) plays his role with the exact amount of mystery required to keep the audience guessing whether he is after her fortune, or is really in love with her. Maggie Smith is one of the finest actresses alive and raises the level of the movie considerably with her portrayal of the well-meaning aunt. Finney is marvelous, of course, as the father who threatens to disinherit his daughter for her disobedience, but the daughter is willing to risk that for the man she loves. But does her ardent suitor still want her without her fortune? This is only one instance where *Washington Square* differs from *The Heiress*. Another instance is the ability to stick with it. It is a handsome movie that is as tedious as a dripping faucet, offering too little story in too long of a movie.
Rating:
Summary: excellent period piece
Review: This dvd cannot be played unless one installs the player software that it contains...I found the resultant program tedious and invasive...and after 20 minutes or so, threw the dvd away. The film, I've little doubt is as good as others here say - but it has been betrayed by its engineers. Go for the VHS.
Rating:
Summary: The film may be fine but the dvd's a dud
Review: This dvd cannot be played unless one installs the player software that it contains...I found the resultant program tedious and invasive...and after 20 minutes or so, threw the dvd away. The film, I've little doubt is as good as others here say - but it has been betrayed by its engineers. Go for the VHS.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful film.
Review: This film is worth watching for two things, mainly:1. the acting 2. the music Jennifer Jason Leigh embodies Catherine Sloper and gives us all she's got. I don't have words to express just how moving she is in this movie. Ben Chaplin doesn't disappoint either. He captures Morris's ambiguity and show us that Morris is capable of fine feelings, even if he is not strong enough to be a better man. Albert Finney is awesome. His cruelty plays off immensely well against Jennifer Jason Leigh's quiet growth in strength and self-awareness. Maggie Smith is both saddening and creepy. Terrific actress. I loved this movie. I'd read the book before and loved it first. I find that the script doesn't do justice to James's intricate observations (it's virtually impossible) on society and human psyche, but, at the same time, whenever I think of Catherine Sloper and Morris Townsend from now on, I'll see Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ben Chaplin and feel moved all over again. All I have to say about the music is that it's beautiful. Listen to "Tu Chiami Una Vita". It'll break your heart...in a good way.
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