Rating: 
Summary: Pitiful script + great actors = a sad movie
Review: It's really sad that such beautiful scenery and great actors are wasted on a very barren plot. I loved the color contrasts from the Jewish lifestyle to the Gentile lifestyle, which gave the scenes their only depth. Minnie Driver's part as a very sheltered but curious Jewess gave her a very seductive display while the mother's pretentious attitude and the daughter's devilish snobbery gave Minnie's character a challenge. Jonathan's use of both loving innocence and mischievous antics made him endearing, and when Minnie spurns Jonathan's love it really tore into me to watch him suffer. With all that encouragement, it is truly a pity that this movie deflates on theme and it truly is 105 minutes of boredom. For the life of me I can't fathom why Minnie's character is in any way attracted to that cold, nasty old fart?! Plus, I found at least four places where they could have added subplots and beef up the movie but everything ended so cut and dry it was almost as if the script was meant for an after school special. The writers should be sued for misuse of such wonderful actors.
Rating: 
Summary: Get it for Meyers
Review: Let me get this right. Minnie Drivers character chooses dull,boring,stuckup,old Cavendish over the gorgously cute Jonathan Rhys Meyers? Is this even halfway realistic? I spent the whole movie wondering what she saw in old Cavendish, I can't believe she felt so much passion for such a dull character. He was about as sexy as a block of wood.I was hoping that she would drop him for Henry but she never came to her senses. It is still a beautifully photographed movie with exquisite costumes and designs. The only problem is that it doesn't really go anywhere and Cavendish's character is so boring that you wonder why she bothers with him. Still a very good movie and worth seeing if only for the gorgous Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He is a remarkable young actor, much better than the overrated Leonardo DiCaprio. The sea scene is especially recommended and the scene where she tells him to get his clothes off and then runs her hands over his body. Very nice scene.
Rating:
Summary: Sensual,erotic and an emotionally compelling movie.
Review: Minnie Driver is boldly erotic. She is finely tuned to the delicate subtleties of crafting multiple emotions in many moments in this richly photographed film. The acting of the rest of the ensemble is memorable, brittle, and hauntingly human - filled with sensuality and raw emotion. The accompanying sound track is beautiful. The film is a must for artists and those who love.....
Rating:
Summary: Starts slow, then comes to a complete stop.
Review: Minnie Driver is horribly miscast as the lead in this film, in as much as her on-screen appearance is neither friendly, nor inviting (in the future she should also shy away from anything that involves her getting 'wet' argh!-I can't Even imagine watching "Hard Rain"). As the Annabella Sciorras, and the Emma Thompsons before her, Ms. Driver will have to quickly accept the fact that she has little to offer in a role that is supposed to 'carry' a film. She just has not the acting skills, nor the on-screen magic that someone like Kate Winslet or Gwyneth Paltrow has, nor has she the energy or effervescence that, say Rose McGowan has.I grabbed the film for Tom Wilkinson anyway, having recently become quite the fan of this British J.T. Walsh. A wonderful character actor who has raised his profile in the US significantly of late with appearances in "Shakespeare in Love", "The Full Monty", and "Sense and Sensibility". The story fails even the Driver-factor, ambling on like one of those scripts developed in a screen-writing class: 'who has an idea?' 'how about a young Jewess loses her money and has to take on work in Scotland in the 1800s' 'good, but we need some conflict in the first act'...'maybe she falls for the master of the house, but the son has eyes for her as well'...'good'...you know the rest. And it goes from bad to worse. It's impossible to complete this puzzle with so many ill-fitting pieces.
Rating: 
Summary: I loved this movie!
Review: Minnie Driver was excellent and Tom Wilkinson took my breath away. The passion he showed in his eyes was beautiful and he is a fine, fine actor. I loved his nude scene, we need to see more older men like that...being sensual and real. If I see anymore depictions of one dimensional sexuality(older men running around subways with guns drawn to win over some Barbie Doll)I'm going to spit. The plot was interesting and the characters were well cast. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers was great, as always. The photography was gorgeous. I just loved this movie!
Rating:
Summary: Ahh...romance in Scotland....with Jonathan
Review: My interest in The Governess was piqued when I heard that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (as Henry Cavendish) appears in a decidedly supporting - but delicious role. Having seen some of his previous films (Velvet Goldmine and Ride with the Devil) I was very pleased to see that this film was a departure for him as he is usually cast as a theatrically effeminate villian-type. Here, he plays the young love-lorn son of the vindictive lord of the Manor played by Tom Wilkinson. He hopelessly pines for Rosina (Minnie Driver) and is crushed at the end when his affections are denied. I was glad to see his normally over-the-top acting style was gracefully curtailed yet intense at the same time. It's long and tedious at times (as most British films tend to crawl by for American audiences), but at the end, it seems like you have just had the satisfaction of reading a poignant bestselling novel. The movie itself has the complex and metaphoric plot of a good novel, but keeps to a central character without dallying in unrelated side-plots. I like this movie for grey, rainy afternoons on the couch with a friend who is a novelist. Or not. Forget that, watch it whenver you like. It's good anytime. Watch it for culture and perspective.
Rating:
Summary: What a gorgeous movie!
Review: Okay, so it was slow at times. I thought Minnie Driver's portrayal of a Victorian era Jewess was haunting. She is tall, thin and beautiful to behold on film. The Mr. Cavendish role played by the same man in The Full Monty (he get's nekkid in this one, too) was at times excruciating to watch. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is a revealation as Henry. He should have gotten more screen time. I kept wishing all throughout the movie that Minnie's character would would be involved w/ Jonathan but no such luck. I short, I bought this film because I think Minnie is a fabulous actress but the pleasant surprise was Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as the beauteous Henry.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, Could've been better
Review: Rosalina's family is wealthy and Jewish. When her father dies, she is forced to enter the workforce disguised as a Christian governess "Mary Blackchurch." While she is employed on a remote island of Skye, she falls in love wither her employer AND his son and has affairs with both. I enjoyed the first half of the movie. But I'm not a big fan of movies where the hero/ine commit adultery. The first affair, in my opinion was rather skanky. The affair with the son, a rebound romance, was worse, because he looked WAY too young, and almost girlish with those HUGE pouting lips. Plus Rosalina seemed oodles more mature than he was portrayed. Feh... I thought this film was okay, but nothing really special. I'd like to see the heroine in a decent relationship with a decent guy, instead of having a torrid affair with every man in sight... Is this too much to ask for?
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: Sensual, sensuous, beautifully filmed, some nudity (which was delightful, although no sex, unfortunately), and a wonderful story of a woman's first love and love affair and blossoming into her power. The soundtrack was stunning. I recommend it highly!
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully shot, the story of a pre-Victorian feminist
Review: Set in 1840, England, between the times of King George and Queen Victoria, this is the story of a Jewish woman, Rosina Da Silva (Minnie Driver), who after the death of her beloved father, is asked to marry quickly and marry "well" so that the debt-ridden family can maintain its standards of living. Rosina is headstrong, and rejects a marriage proposal from an older, boring man. She would rather be an actress. She takes a job as a nanny for the Cavendish family on the uninviting, desolate, Isle of Skye. She changes her name to Mary BlackChurch to mask her Jewish identity, and is accepted as one of the family. Like Queen Esther of the Purim holiday, she masks her identity and takes up residence in a palace-like household. And then Mr. Cavendish (Tom Wilkinson), an inventor who is focusing his scientific work on photography, takes an interest in Mary/Rosina, as does the Cavendish's teenage son, Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Beautifully shot, like the photos Cavendish is trying to develop and stabilize. A tad cliché with the pre-Victorian romantic lines. Contains nudity. First 10 minutes contain shots of "recreated" London (actually Venetian style) synagogue and "Sephardic" Jewish life. By the way, the writer / director Goldbach is the progeny of an Italian-Jewish father and Scottish mother. Contains music by the late Israeli singer, Ofra Haza, and Edward Shearmur.
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