My Cousin Rachel

Daphne du Maurier's titular 1951 novel is the epitome of gothic melodrama. Orphaned as a child, Philip Ashley (Sam Claflin) was raised by his bachelor uncle Ambrose on a picturesque country estate on England's Cornish coast. Content with his horses and dogs, Ambrose never had much need for women. Yet on a trip to Italy, elderly Ambrose met and married his distant cousin Rachel (Rachel Weisz), and soon after fell ill and died. Callow, self-centered, 24-year-old Philip blames Rachel for his uncle's death and he meets her with hatred in his heart when she arrives in Cornwall. But he's inexorably drawn to this calm, charming woman who manipulates him with the same sophisticated skill with which she brews her mysterious herbal teas. Before long, peevish Philip is besotted with the beautifully beguiling, black-lace-veiled Rachel, much to the dismay of his godfather, Mr. Kendall (Iain Glen), whose sensible daughter, Louise (Holliday Grainger), is the woman everyone presumed Philip would eventually marry. Adapted and directed by Roger Michell as a costume drama, this lacks the essential emotional menace and momentum of Du Maurier's story of an irrepressible, independent woman who, despite mid-19th-century social restrictions, was determined to live life on her own terms. A better version is the 1952 Oscar-nominated My Cousin Rachel starring Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Roger Michell and producer Kevin Loader, deleted scenes (13 min.), the production featurettes “Scoring Sessions” (7 min.), “Costumes” (3 min.), “Cast” (3 min.), “West Horsley” (3 min.), “VFX Progressions” (3 min.), “Daphne Du Maurier” (2 min.), and “Did She or Didn't She” (2 min.), brief character segments, and a gallery. Bottom line: a substantial extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)