Capturing Mary
A young man (Wynter) ushers an older woman (Smith) into a dark exploration of her past - back to the time when, as a young girl, she met a stranger who affected her life forever. Read more
| Starring | Maggie Smith, David Walliams, Danny Lee Wynter, Ruth Wilson |
|---|---|
| Director | Stephen Poliakoff |
| Genres | Drama |
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Capturing Mary
A young man (Wynter) ushers an older woman (Smith) into a dark exploration of her past - back to the time when, as a young girl, she met a stranger who affected her life forever.
| Starring | Maggie Smith, David Walliams, Danny Lee Wynter, Ruth Wilson, Gemma Arterton, Brice Stratford |
|---|---|
| Director | Stephen Poliakoff |
| Studio | 2 ENTERTAIN VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 40 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 12 Nov 2007 |
| Format | DVD |
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Most helpful member's review
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21 out of 21 people found this review helpful
Capturing Mary
Despite all the hype surrounding Poliakoff's work, this BBC Production is painfully long and woefully dull. If we disregard for a moment its sumptuous setting, beautiful costumes and interesting camera angles, concentrating instead on plot, character development and dramatic impact, the film is boring, devoid of any real human meaning, wooden and largely irrelevant. Let us boil the story down: Mary (Maggie Smith) turns up at a large, uninhabited posh house where Joe (Danny Lee Wynter) is the caretaker. She proceeds to relate a story, set in the same house, about the time when she, as a promising young journalist in the 1950s, met Greville (David Walliams) at a fashionable soirée. During the evening, he told her some nasty stories and these have haunted her and basically ruined her life. Yes, ruined her life. Her whole life. Much of the film depicts flashbacks of those bizarre events and another actress (Ruth Wilson) plays the younger Mary. Actually, Wilson's brilliant performance is the only redeeming feature of this piece – even the masterful veteran Maggie Smith is hard-pressed to breathe life into this empty rôle. In common with much of Poliakoff's work, his characters don't exist in the real world, they're not like real people, and so we don't care what happens to them. This cuts the dramatic impact down, almost to zero. We might be curious to see how the story ends, perhaps, but it fails to engage any emotional connection. It's a bit like a weak version of “Tales of the Unexpected” - with an unlikely premise but very lavish sets and an inflated budget. It's a wonder that Joe kept faith with Mary whilst telling her interminable story – I expected him to disappear and quietly slit his wrists (indeed the idea occurred to me) but then I am confusing Joe with a real person who does real things. These are cardboard, one-dimensional characters. Poliakoff is a high profile, critically-acclaimed writer/director, in whom the BBC has invested millions, so how dare I sound so disparaging? If you usually like this sort of thing, rent it and judge it for yourself.
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Most recent members' review
View all -
21 out of 21 people found this review helpful
Capturing Mary
Despite all the hype surrounding Poliakoff's work, this BBC Production is painfully long and woefully dull. If we disregard for a moment its sumptuous setting, beautiful costumes and interesting camera angles, concentrating instead on plot, character development and dramatic impact, the film is boring, devoid of any real human meaning, wooden and largely irrelevant. Let us boil the story down: Mary (Maggie Smith) turns up at a large, uninhabited posh house where Joe (Danny Lee Wynter) is the caretaker. She proceeds to relate a story, set in the same house, about the time when she, as a promising young journalist in the 1950s, met Greville (David Walliams) at a fashionable soirée. During the evening, he told her some nasty stories and these have haunted her and basically ruined her life. Yes, ruined her life. Her whole life. Much of the film depicts flashbacks of those bizarre events and another actress (Ruth Wilson) plays the younger Mary. Actually, Wilson's brilliant performance is the only redeeming feature of this piece – even the masterful veteran Maggie Smith is hard-pressed to breathe life into this empty rôle. In common with much of Poliakoff's work, his characters don't exist in the real world, they're not like real people, and so we don't care what happens to them. This cuts the dramatic impact down, almost to zero. We might be curious to see how the story ends, perhaps, but it fails to engage any emotional connection. It's a bit like a weak version of “Tales of the Unexpected” - with an unlikely premise but very lavish sets and an inflated budget. It's a wonder that Joe kept faith with Mary whilst telling her interminable story – I expected him to disappear and quietly slit his wrists (indeed the idea occurred to me) but then I am confusing Joe with a real person who does real things. These are cardboard, one-dimensional characters. Poliakoff is a high profile, critically-acclaimed writer/director, in whom the BBC has invested millions, so how dare I sound so disparaging? If you usually like this sort of thing, rent it and judge it for yourself.
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One of the stars of the forthcoming St Trinian's film is set to feature in the next James Bond film, it was reported yesterday. Gemma Arterton, who plays Kelly in the cheeky school-themed remake, will appear opposite Daniel Craig in the 22nd Bond movie, according to Empire Online. Although no information was given on the role she might play in the film, the website reported that "what we're hearing suggests that she'll be in a fairly major role". Arterton is a relative beginner in the Read more
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A young man (Wynter) ushers an older woman (Smith) into a dark exploration of her past - back to the time when, as a young girl, she met a stranger who affected her life forever. ... -