Variety
This admirable, watercolor-delicate tale of individual feminist emancipation never quite blooms into living color, hampered by spotty casting and Richard Laxton's overly deliberate direction.
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Effie Gray
Victorian biopic from writer/actress Emma Thompson, starring Dakota Fanning as Euphemia Gray - one third of the Gray-Ruskin-Millais love triangle that scandalised 1850s Britain.
In a time when neither divorce nor gay marriage were an option, the story of Gray's strained marriage to renowned art critic John Ruskin (Greg Wise) and her affair with artist John Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge) explores the roots of sexual intolerance and the marital politics of the Victorian era.
Shot in 2012, the film's release was delayed due to lawsuits claiming Thompson's scripts were plagiarised. The first was from an un-produced screenplay and the second from a stageplay, both on the same subject. Thompson won the cases.
Less2014Rating: M108 minsUK
DramaTrue Story & Biography
- Director:
- Richard Laxton ('An Englishman in New York', 'Burton & Taylor')
- Writer:
- Emma Thompson
- Cast:
- Dakota FanningEmma ThompsonRobbie ColtraneJulie WaltersClaudia CardinaleTom SturridgeDerek Jacobi
Effie Gray | Reviews
43%87 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Total Film
The result is dark and offbeat, but as a murky anti-romance, Gray is undeniably effective.
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The New York Times
It's a lamentable if not especially engrossing story, part wronged-woman narrative, part marital horror movie.
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The Guardian
It may be billed as a "love triangle", but there's precious little love on display, even in our heroine's growing affection for pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.
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Los Angeles Times
The best thing about the ultimately involving way this romantic drama ends up on screen is that it's sure to arouse enough interest to make those who don't already know the outcome more than eager to look it up.
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