Effie Gray (2014)

The famed Victorian art critic John Ruskin (Greg Wise) marries a naive young girl (Dakota Fanning). But the marriage is a disaster. Not only is he a mama's boy but she finds herself stuck in a sexless and passionless marriage. Based on the true story of Euphemia Chalmers Millais (she would later marry the pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais), the film was made 4 years ago but various lawsuits against Emma Thompson (who wrote the screenplay and plays Lady Eastlake) citing plagiarism kept the film off screens until late last year when it open it England and is now getting a U.S. release. The film's unusual topic and its often penetrating look at the status of women in Victorian England elevates it from the usual Masterpiece Theater feel of these kinds of costume dramas. But damn, it moves at a snail's pace and more than once I wanted to yell at the screen, "Just get on with it!". Two things: one, it was great seeing Claudia Cardinale back on screen even if her part is no more than a cameo and two, the film is further evidence that Dakota Fanning is a talented young actress just waiting for the right role. Unfortunately, this isn't it. Directed by Richard Laxton. With James Fox, David Suchet, Julie Walters, Tom Sturridge, Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane.