AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

sddavis63 It's the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, told from a different perspective. In this case, the story unfolds through the eyes of Jekyll's maid - Mary Reilly. Mary is fond of Jekyll - and Jekyll returns the feelings - and gradually as they spend more time together Mary begins to become aware that something strange is happening - especially after Jekyll informs the staff that his new assistant - Mr. Edward Hyde - would be coming to stay with them.I found this a strange movie in a lot of ways. I was completely unconvinced of the need for the familiar story to be told through someone else's eyes. I'm just not sure what that added to the story. The basics we already know. We're told a lot about Mary's background - she was abused (physically, and it seems sexually) by her father in her childhood - and something in her relationship with her father mirrors the whole Jekyll/Hyde narrative - but I'm not sure why I really would care. I mean, if you're going to watch any take on the Jekyll & Hyde story, don't you want it to be about Jekyll & Hyde?The stars in this were Julia Roberts and John Malkovich. I'm not a big fan of either of them. In this, I'd say that neither were really bad; neither were particularly strong. A sort of Gothic horror role is different from anything I've ever seen Roberts in. Much has been made of her attempt at an Irish accent. Those criticisms didn't really strike home with me. Malkovich, I thought, was pretty low key in both roles. Much has also been made about the fact that Jekyll and Hyde looked so similar that people should have realized right away that they were the same person. Well - yes and no. In an interesting twist, Hyde was clean-shaven and Jekyll wasn't - the reverse of what you might expect in a good/evil contrast. But because of that, it's believable to me that even if you realize there's a resemblance, it might be difficult to realize that they were the same person. I was all right with that. The atmosphere in this was decent enough. There was a sense of the griminess of Victorian London that came through, and while this wasn't at all frightening, it did have a relatively sustained "creepiness" factor to it.Overall, though, I thought this was rather slow-moving. There's not really much excitement in it; it's quite un-frightening for a horror movie. I'd recommend sticking with a more traditional adaptation of the story. (4/10)

Wizard-8 "Mary Reilly" was a pretty big box office bomb when it was released to theaters. Seen almost twenty years later, the problems that it had back then are still apparent today. Actually, in many ways it is a well made movie. Director Stephen Frears does manage to capture the cold and bleak feel of London in the Victorian era. And the two headline stars, Julia Roberts and John Malkovich, do give perfectly fine performances. Unfortunately, the central story of the movie simply isn't that interesting. The movie has the promising idea of telling the very familiar Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story from an observer's point of view, but it's told in such a slow style and not terribly exciting or intriguing. (It also doesn't help that what Hyde does in his various rampages for the most part remains unclear.) As I indicated, the movie has some good features, but all the same it ends up being one case where the book is a lot better.

Lucien Lessard An pretty but shy, depressed and lonely housemaid by the name of Mary Reilly (Oscar-Winner:Julia Roberts) works for Dr. Henry Jekyll (John Malkovich). When Dr. Jekyll is working on a experiment, he tells his staff (George Cole, Michael Sheen, Kathy Staff and Bronagh Gallagher) and Mary that he will have an assistant working with him. But the stuff never fully sees him and remains an mystery. But when Mary gets closer to Dr. Jekyll talking about her awful childhood to him, begin abused by her drunken mean-spirited father (Michael Gambon). Mary finds herself slowly falling in love with Dr. Jekyll but soon discovers that Dr. Jekyll has an dark side and his mysterious assistant might be related to him.Directed by Stephen Frears (The Grifters, Hero, The Hours) made an very flawed but intriguing period suspense thriller with good performances by Roberts and Malkovich. The bleak setting is nicely done by production designer:Staurt Craig (The Harry Potter Series, Chaplin, The Secret Garden) and Glenn Close has fun in her minor role as a madam. Although there was trouble during production, because Roberts and Malkovich didn't get along. The film was also over budgeted and problems with Christopher Hampton's (Atonement, The Secret Agent, Total Eclipse) script. "Mary Reilly" ended up being re-shot in the end, despite it was an reunion from the Cast and Crew of "Dangerous Liaisions" for director:Frears, screenwriter:Hampton, actors:Malkovich & Close, producer:Norma Heyman, composer:George Fenton, cinematographer:Philippe Rousselot, production designer:Craig and casting director:Juliet Taylor."Mary Reilly" does have an minor cult following, some might complain that Roberts was mis-cast but i thought she did well with his performance (Which she smiled only once in the film). One of the highlights is towards the end with Dr. Jekyll's character. Although watching the movie, it does look like at times, the movie had an troubled production. It's very flawed at times but it's Malkovich's fascinating performance keeps it together. Despite all the movie faults, it is still worth a look. Based on a novel by Valerie Martin.(*** ½/*****).

Michelle Pitter I was surprised to see Julia Roberts in what looked to be such a dark film but she played her role so well I really did feel like I was feeling everything she felt. John Malkovich as always played both Jekyll and Hyde with the passion and intensity that i have come to expect from him.I'm not much for period dramas but I have to admit that it was done so brilliantly and didn't feel stuffy and controlled like a lot of other period films I have tried watching. The story of Jekyll and Hide and it has been done in other films but this is one of the best I have seen. The film had a lot more feeling to it but was very subtle and made me think a lot of things through. The film has a slow pace compared to some but this isn't such a bad thing, it definitely didn't feel drawn out, it seemed to have enough time to venture down all the paths it needed including the death of Mary's mother.The film is classed partly as horror but the only part of the film which was scary to see was the scene where Mary witnesses Hde become Jekyll for the first and last time. The special effects were a little out there compared to the rest of the film, it was almost like someone put a microwave in Dr Jekyll's Victorian kitchen. It would have been better to see there faces gently merge from one character to the other.Other than that all I have to say is this is a brilliant film. Totally unexpected and charming in lots of ways.