Washington Square (1997)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Agnieszka Holland

Writers (WGA):

Henry James (novel)
Carol Doyle (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

She must choose between her father's fortune... Or the man she loves.

Plot:

Catherine Sloper has found the man of her dreams in Morris Townsend, but her plans to marry him are strongly opposed by her father...

Plot Keywords:

Money | Domineering Father | Midwife | Heiress | Aunt Niece Relationship

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Catherine Sloper
Albert Finney	...	Dr. Austin Sloper
Maggie Smith	...	Aunt Lavinia Penniman
Ben Chaplin	...	Morris Townsend
Judith Ivey	...	Aunt Elizabeth Almond
Arthur Laupus	...	Mr. Almond
Jennifer Garner	...	Marian Almond
Robert Stanton	...	Arthur Townsend
Betsy Brantley	...	Mrs. Montgomery
Nancy Daly	...	Maureen (Maid)
Sara Ruzicka	...	Catherine Sloper (age 11)
Rachel Layne Sacrey	...	Sarah Almond
Rachel Osborne	...	Alice Almond
Scott Jaeck	...	John Ludlow
Peter Maloney	...	Jacob Webber (Notary)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements including some sensuality, a childbirth scene and brief mild language.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 (including commercials) | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | France:U | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | UK:PG | USA:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Alchemy Filmworks

Trivia:

At one point, Brooke Shields was cast as Catherine Sloper, but dropped out due to her commitment to the TV series "Suddenly Susan" (1996).

Quotes:

[referring to Catherine's father's opinion of Morris]
Morris Townsend: You would hear me abused without opening your lips in my defense?
Catherine Sloper: My father would not abuse you. He does not know you well enough.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Heiress (1961) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Tu chiami una vita

Over-long, over-acted, and over-directed

This was such a ham-handed film that only the invisible force field that surrounds my couch prevented me from getting up and turning the television off. Much of Leigh's performance seemed to consist of channelling Ally Sheedy's quirky "Breakfast Club" shtick. Jeez, Catherine isn't supposed to be the village idiot; she's just naive and sheltered. The scenes involving pants-wetting and prostitution were unfaithful to James' spirit, let alone the actual text, and the music was god-awful and anachronistic, especially the irritating piano duet.

Albert Finney and Maggie Smith did their best, but the direction gets the Golden Toilet award. Oh, look; it's sunny - such felicity abounds! Aw, gee, it's raining, let's all fall down in the street to the sounds of swelling symphonic shmaltz. Peuw.

And I am normally a such a forgiving costume drama fiend. Alas.