Cheap Mary Reilly (DVD) (Julia Roberts, John Malkovich) (Stephen Frears) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mary Reilly

It is always interesting to me when a movie is sexy without any sex!!! I absolutely swooned--and I mean SWOONED a couple of times--the relationship between Mary, Jekyll, and Hyde was steamy to me--the onscreen chemistry between Roberts and Malkovich topped it off. Sorry, I was wishing for a right-nasty shag scene or two.

I think some of the dialogue is particularly beautiful-
As far as accents: I am a stickler on this point. Married to a Brit for longer than I like to remember, I have become well-aquainted with nuances, regions, class, geographic influences, the ebb and flow of language in and out of England. And, I have always had a real interest in dialects, words, and history. I feel it is important not to jump to conclusions about what we know today and what was then. (I highly recommend THE STORY OF ENGLISH (PBS for anyone interested in this area)

I only get upset about poor accents/dialects in a film if it seems to me the actor is just lazy or uneducated about what they are doing.

I do not ever remember seeing Malkovich in any film in which he assumes a foreign dialect or accent, BUT, for some reason it always works for me. He does something with the way he speaks that seems to transcend dialect, accent, time, place--it just always seems right no matter what the piece he is working on.

I will watch this movie many, many times--just another of those great "little" movies you hear little or nothing of that sticks with you--verbally, visually beautiful! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Must See Movie
As a fan of what I have heard called gothic novels - Bronte, Dickens, etc. - I have got to put in a word for this movie. This is a phenomenal movie. The story centers around Julia Roberts' character, Mary Reilly, who is a servant of Dr. Jekyll. John Malkovich plays a wonderful Dr. Jekyll and makes Mr. Hyde into a fascinating villain. He catches the essence of Mr. Hyde perfectly in my mind...a mysterious and diabolical yet somewhat alluring presence though unstable. (In the original Stevenson story Hyde's dominant characteristic was the repugnance he pulled from people when they saw him - as if he was deformed in some way though it was not visible. It is implied that evil deforms the soul and that visible to other's by instinct). As Reilly assists Jekyll, their relationship becomes that of confidantes (though Jekyll is holding back). He develops an interest in Mary and her life. As he delves into her psyche, he forms a definite affection for her and she for him. There is a certain tension between them because of their feelings, their differing social positions and the problems that Jekyll is having but can't fully explain to the timid but reliable Mary Reilly.

This movie was so strong, it just blew me away. It is what I had hoped that Stevenson's story would be but wasn't. I have put Mary Reilly, the book, on my reading list and I fully expect it to be every bit the powerful work as Jane Eyre with the special flavor of horror to be found in the likes of Shelley's Frankenstein.

Interesting Film!
I don't really understand what everyone is talking about when referring to Ms. Robert's performance. I thought it was exceptional. It was nice to see her stretch. Anyway Malkovich was fantastic! This story was great and I thought it was well executed on film. Close had an interesting role also and I loved hearing her accent. See this one.