Washington Square (1997)

After the critical lashing she received for Total Eclipse, Agnieszka Holland takes another, more successful stab at the period piece, this time adapting Henry James for the screen. Too many films based on classic literature risk brittleness in their attention to historical detail, but Holland and first-time screenwriter Carol Doyle present James' world as not so very different from our own. The tangled financial, familial, and romantic motivations that drive the plot would work in almost any time period, but the filmmakers include just enough Victorian social anthropology to differentiate the material from its contemporary equivalent. Jennifer Jason Leigh brings her usual meticulous technique to a less showy role than she usually fills. The interest lies not in her character's tics or instabilities, but in the way Leigh subtly demonstrates Catherine's evolution -- from clumsy girl to love-struck teen to grave, mournful, yet joyfully resolute woman. As Morris Townsend, Ben Chaplin makes an effective heartthrob; the character's mixture of noble ideals and callow grasping seems completely natural in his competent hands. The rest of the fine cast is led by the esteemed Albert Finney, as Catherine's conflicted father, but the best job comes from the reliable Maggie Smith, who turns in yet another hilarious supporting role, this time as Lavinia Penniman, Catherine's fretful, widowed aunt. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide