branagh fangirl Reviews

Robin Hood (1984–1986)

Robbing the Rich Has Never Looked So Good.

[16 March 2000]

What can I say? This is the best Robin Hood on film, bar none. It combines deft characterization, superb casting and realistic sets and backgrounds which meld with a haunting soundtrack to create a show guaranteed to visit the viewer's daydreams for days afterward. What drew me at first? The fresh way in which it retold the old legends. (Well, that and Michael Praed, I must admit.)

The Merries seem to care about each other, and work as a team. When did Costner's crew ever do that? Everyone developed, even over the course of the pilot episode, even Guy of (BOO!) Gisbourne. If you like your Robin Hoods handsome and mystical, your Marions courageous, and your Merrie Men resourceful, try "Robin Hood..The Legend." (1983-86)

Our Mutual Friend (1998)

Romantic, hilarious, complex, and a cheerful ending from Dickens!

[10/10 · 30 December 1999]

Filled with striking characters and cunning plot twists, this film keeps you on your toes. Two romance plotlines, a murder mystery, a number of stalkers and an inheritance all hang in the balance..who will survive, and who will be changed?

Steven MacKintosh gives a nuanced performance as John Rokesmith/John Harmond, a young man with a past he'd as soon forget and an uncertain future. Paul McGann is also wonderful as the Dickensian lawyer Eugene Rayburn, a bored young man whose life is changed forever when he meets Lizzie, the daughter of a man who finds bodies in the Thames, and when he confronts Bradley Headstone, the psychotic schoolmaster who is obsessed with Lizzie. Also of note are the actresses who played Lizzie and the money-obsessed Bella Wilfer, since so much of the story hinges on their believability. Was Dickens ever so much fun before?