Camilla Dickinson

Adapted from the titular 1951 novel by Madeline L'Engle, Camilla Dickinson is set in 1948 Manhattan, with Adelaide Clemens playing the young and high-minded but socially repressed 15-year-old Camilla. Clemens easily delivers the most believable performance here, with veteran actor Cary Elwes exaggerating his role as Camilla's impossibly uptight (and slightly creepy) father. While Camilla begins the process of growing up and taking an interest in boys (in this case, her best friend's brother Frank), her parents channel the frustrations of their own failed union into strict disapproval of Camilla's choice of beau because of his supposed checkered past. Cornelia Duryée Moore's direction is stiff and conservative—recalling BBC corset dramas—while every actor except Clemens and Colby Minifie (playing Camilla's best pal) is incapable of settling comfortably into his or her roles. In the last third of the film, while joyriding on the Staten Island ferry, a sudden gust of wind blows Camilla's red beret off her head. Later, one sadly realizes that this was the most spontaneous and exciting moment in the entire film. Optional. (M. Sandlin)