The Reef (1999)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Robert Allan Ackerman

Writers (WGA):

Edith Wharton (book)
William Hanley (teleplay)

Release Date:

25 July 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

They tried to forget about each other but their love would forever remind them.

Plot:

Set in early 1900's France, a widow renews a former romantic interest until it is discovered that he...

Plot Keywords:

1900s | Beautiful Woman | Human Relationship | Based On Book | Independent Film

Cast

Sela Ward	...	Anna Leath
Timothy Dalton	...	Charles Darrow
Alicia Witt	...	Sophy Viner
Jamie Glover	...	Owen Leath
Cynthia Harris	...	Adelaide
Leslie Caron	...	Regine De Chantelle
Hannah Taylor-Gordon	...	Effie Leath
Rupert Frazer	...	Mr. Farlow
Jane Bertish	...	Mrs. Farlow
Robert Russell	...	Messenger
Lori Wyant	...	Embassy Secretary
Marcos Márquez	...	Hotel Concierge

Also Known As:

Das Riff (Germany) (TV title)
Passion's Way (USA)

Runtime:

Brazil:88 min | 120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA | Germany | Czech Republic

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Freyda Rothstein Productions

Trivia:

Filmed in 1996 but not broadcast until 1999.

how to make a sow's ear from a silk purse

This is an adaptation of an Edith Wharton work, whose writing is amazing. Sadly, this movie never shakes the feeling that these 20th century movie people don't grasp the 19th century repression and desperation Wharton's work depicts. Ward and Dalton aren't so bad, but Alicia Witt's wooden performance made me wince. She was supposed to be playing the restless element of the story, but she stood like a stick the whole movie long, and I never believed a word out of her mouth. When she asks Sela Ward "Why can't I move you?" near the end of the film, I couldn't help but answer: "That's what I've been wondering for the last hour and a half!!!"