Wordiezett So much average

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

ecogirlveghead Great costumes, wonderful scenery, great art direction. Unfortunately, this movie suffers from uneven acting and a lack of attention to period detail. The actor playing Carver is creepy, but he is lacking charisma and screen presence - he's kind of a sad little bully and there's no way Lorna would be unwillingly attracted to him (as she was in the book). The actress playing Lorna is sweet, lovely, and appealing but she too, doesn't draw me in.I agree with other reviewers about the variety of accents - I wish they had spent more time getting the accents of the time and place correct and consistent.Also, its really, really silly and takes away from the believability of the whole thing that one of the 17th century female villagers is wearing glasses. Some of the dialogue is way too obviously modern too: "All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy." "I'm not marrying some ignorant farmer," says his sister. "Not if he sees you first." Sounds like a conversation at the local high school. The sad,dramatic music is played way too much and too loudly and distracts from the scenes - overpowering music is a pet-peeve of mine. Honestly, while the movie was playing, I spent more time reading reviews here - it simply wasn't that compelling.Its almost like this movie was made for teenagers (who like romance). This is too bad because even teenagers like period detail and can understand quality movie making. They appear to have made some parts of this movie too quickly and had to skim over some elements - or some of the people working on it had experience and others were still very green. Somehow this one just misses the mark.

Neil Welch Lorna Doone still reads well. Yes, it is very much a product of the era it was written in, but the story still works well - the central romance beset by the problem of Lorna's situation within the Doones, enhanced by the texturing of the main plot interlacing with the many subplots.But if you read it, you get a very strong picture of John Ridd as the archetypical gentle giant. With all due respect to Richard Coyle, he doesn't have the physical presence I expect from John Ridd. This piece of central casting is then compounded further by the casting of Aiden Gillen as Carver Doone. Carver Doone is big and dark, in every sense of both words. Gillen is effete and peevish. Evil, certainly, but without ever making me think he was physically Carver. Both men act well, albeit Carver should be more brooding and less hissy: I suspect that this is direction, though.The child actors playing young John and young Lorna aren't very good. America turns up fabulous child actors all over the place, England can't find them anywhere.The rest of the cast is fine: Amelia Warner as Lorna is gorgeous and does the best she can with a character which is underwritten in the novel, and Martin Clunes is a surprising but effective Jeremy Stickles.The piece looks gorgeous, although I was surprised to find the climactic bog in a forest instead of on the moors.Addendum: I have just rewatched this, and boy is Aidan Gillen miscast. Yes, he is evil, but his Carver is petulant, peevish and bad tempered, not thunderous and malevolent.

pfeldman-1 The scenery and photography are stunning.The casting and acting are both first-rate.Some elements of the book have been omitted from the film, but nothing essential has been left out.Very fast paced. There is a fair amount of violence, but no gratuitous violence.A few elements of the story are a bit unrealistic, e.g., it is hard to believe that Baron de Whithouse's son would risk his life for the Doones, but this seems rather minor.In summary, a first-rate piece of historical fiction.

zettel-2 Lorna Doone was the Victorians all time favourite novel, and it does contain everything a sentimental reader could ask for: love and treachery, revenge and sudden twists, all set against a colourful local and historical background... Today we can't help noticing that the plot contains more holes than a farmer's sieve, but this production covers them up by its drive and opulence, supported by convincing casting and some very good acting. The only discrepancy is Lorna's Estuary English, but as she's so pretty and acts well –