Rating: 
Summary: Film Acting At It's Best
Review: It's a real shame that so few people have seen this film. It is a hidden treasure. Streep and Irons play present-day actors who are making a film about two people having an affair in Victorian England. The actors themselves are also involved in an affair, making the story a sort of movie-within-a-movie. I have not read the Fowles novel, so I don't have any of the gripes that other reviewers have voiced. I can only tell you that the story, the performances, the settings, the cinematography and the writing are all first-rate. All connected with this film obviously took a lot of time and effort to make a visually stunning film. It still looks great 20 years after its release, and looks even better on DVD (despite the fact that the disc offers no extras except the theatrical trailer...oh well...). Even if you end up hating the story, I don't think anyone would complain about the superior performances by Irons and Streep. Possibly the reason this film has been largely forgotten is the timing. This film was released in 1981, a year or two before Streep's blow-you-away performance in 'Sophie's Choice.' That performance was so spectacular that many have forgotten just how good 'French Lt.' is. If you want to see one of the finest actresses of our time, Meryl Streep in 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' is a performance you will not want to miss.
Rating:
Summary: A novel told in the language of cinema
Review: Karel Reisz is a master in the medium of cinema. He transforms John Fowles' novel into film not only capturing the literary charm and depth of the story, but enhancing it with beautifully visualized details only possible to the medium of cinema. Reisz, with the help of Harold Pinter, who wrote the script, ingeniously incorporates a contemporary story in parallel to novel's Victorian England saga that intensifies the social and cultural hypocrisy of the past and forces the viewer realize that not much has changed. A beatiful echo of femenist ideology. An exciting and engrossing film that is also so romantic, so thought provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: beautifully filmed but story somewhat hollow
Review: something about the meryl streep character bothers me.I know she is a victim of the Victorian age and what not but love seems rather a shallow facade here to cover up the fact that this man and woman haven't the guts to be themselves.I don't know what it is but this didn't seem like an obsessive love story where the lovers risk everything to become one.But more of an easy way out,well enough about the story.The acting is graceful and the cinematography out of a japanese garden,but something bothered me about the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Something more than just corn on the cob
Review: The story within a story as literary device is hardly new, but suits Fowles' approach to his fiction (never having been shy to attempt alternative narrative structures himself). It being unlikley that film could do justice to TFLW's complexity and intellectual atmosphere, by creating something fresh, Pinter has avoided attempting the impossible - competing head on with one of the most intriguing novels of the 20th century. Besides the parallel plot strands offer the opportunity for many additional insights and commentaries that a straight retelling could not.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Acting
Review: This movie was a mystery to me the first time I saw it. But it has captured me and I can't stop watching it. I love Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. The most interesting thing in this movie is the ability to see Streep move in and out of character...from the actress to the character the actress portrays, and, in some cases, to herself...this role(s) demands much personal input from Streep herself...she is a genius. Irons is notable as well...I like his voice, but he has nothing on Streep. Also I recommend "Out of Africa" to all you other Streep fanatics.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful But Complicated
Review: When I think of unusual movies I often thinks of this movie. Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons are (of course) a good couple together and the acting is superb. But here is my confession. After my first viewing I had no idea what had happened. It is a movie in a movie with some twists and turns. I had to watch it four times before I could begin to appreciate the movie. But I did appreciate the movie and highly recommend it to a new viewer. Probably this movie and Sophie's Choice are Streep's best movies - but she did many good movies. In any case it remains one of my favorites. Jack in Toronto
Rating: 
Summary: Omigod what an awful movie......
Review: When I was in college, I LOVED the book, French Lieutenant's Woman! It was one of my favorite books of all time. Sarah, the symbol of all that was feminine, mysterious, alluring, and perhaps dangerous - was she really a whore, a goddess, or just a simple woman caught in a struggle for survival in the harsh Victorian age? I could just go on and on about how fabulous the book was. But this isn't a review for the book. When the movie came out, I rushed out to see it in the first weekend. Oh, geez, to say that I was let down, just doesn't quite get it right. The two big downers were
1. Meryl Streep
2. The changed plot device of a play within a play of modern actors acting out the movie. Meryl Streep was just horribly miscast in the role of Sarah Woodruff. She had absolutely no qualities of mystery, danger, or sex appeal to take on this role. At the time, Charlotte Rampling had been rumored to have been one of the potential actresses considered to play the role of Sarah, and she would have been great in this role. A decade or so later, and Michelle Pfeiffer would have been perfect for the role. But Meryl Streep? Oh my.... groan..... And the play within a play plot device, what an idiotic thing to do to completely change a masterwork like John Fowles's novel. How completely artificial and unnecessary. After this movie came out, I absolutely couldn't stand to watch Meryl Streep in any other movies. One of my favorite books, in its one shot at being made into a movie, ruined. When I think of movies like The Stepford Wives or La Femme Nikita or King Kong getting re-made, I think, wow, wake up Hollywood, it's TIME FOR A REMAKE of this classic novel! And next time, please get it right.....
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