The world didn't really need yet one more version of the Arthur Miller parable set during the Salem witch trials. But if the world insisted on giving us another, why didn't it give us a better one?
Stage director Nicholas Hytner had tried his hand at movie making before ("The Madness of King George") and not done too badly, but you wouldn't know it from this film. These actors, some very good ones (Daniel Day-Lewis) and some not (Winona Ryder), act like they've never been in front of a camera before, and scream every line like they're doing a stage version in Madison Square Garden. Not a very subtle play to begin with, "The Crucible" is like a hammer hitting an anvil when played the way it is here.
Joan Allen and Paul Scofield fare much better in quieter, much more reserved roles.
Grade: C
Stage director Nicholas Hytner had tried his hand at movie making before ("The Madness of King George") and not done too badly, but you wouldn't know it from this film. These actors, some very good ones (Daniel Day-Lewis) and some not (Winona Ryder), act like they've never been in front of a camera before, and scream every line like they're doing a stage version in Madison Square Garden. Not a very subtle play to begin with, "The Crucible" is like a hammer hitting an anvil when played the way it is here.
Joan Allen and Paul Scofield fare much better in quieter, much more reserved roles.
Grade: C