Mary Reilly (1996)

Instant Favorite.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This dull reworking of the Jekyll and Hyde story reposits the whole thing as a doomed Gothic romance, with mousy maid Julia Roberts working in the household of John Malkovich and gradually coming to realise that all isn't well with her employer. MARY REILLY suffers hugely from the random feminist slant on the story, which substitutes meek romance for the original story's full-blooded horror, rendering it into a weak and unwieldy production.I suspect that most viewers like myself will have a hard time with Roberts's attempts at an Irish accent. It's one of the worst accents to come from Hollywood, up there with Kevin Costner's attempts at an English accent in ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES; embarrassing, in fact. At least Malkovich has the good sense to not even attempt to do one, although his hammy overacting is off-putting in itself. The film does contain one surprise CGI effect, which looks appallingly dated to the modern viewer.As a film, MARY REILLY is slow, unfocused, and hampered by the viewer's knowledge of the story which means there are no surprises in store. The characters are poorly written and Reilly herself is unsympathetic - no Jane Eyre here, with hidden reserves of wit and courage, just somebody who doesn't even deserve the camera time. The one good thing about this film is that it features roles for British character actors like George Cole, Ciaran Hinds, Kathy Staff, and Michael Gambon. If I'm honest I would have preferred the film with Cole in the Jekyll role and Staff as the lead, they show up the Hollywood stars that much.

Where to begin... How about the bland scenery? Bricks, fog, doors, fog, even the garden feels bland and lifeless. How about the so called "character study"? Well after watching this we now know that Mary is a ditz who makes Christine Daae look like Margarate Thatcher. We also know that she's (Spoiler!!! well... sort of) afraid of rats, and that her father was an absolute prick. Oh you wanted to know about Jekyll and Hyde's character? HA! You never learn anything you didn't already know about them other than their love of spouting exposition and "shocking" the audience with unexplained violence seemingly without any clear motive.In short, this movie will do its very best to "shock" and "scare" you but will ultimately only manage to disgust you. The only redeeming qualities are the impressive (but really very silly) transformation scene, one good jump scare, and laughing at Julia Roberts' "Irish" accent. Otherwise, this is an unrelentingly unpleasant movie that will leave you feeling empty. You will take NOTHING from this film, quite the contrary, it feels like it's taken something from you! Bottom line, don't watch this sick, poorly slapped together, bloody mess of a film.

I initially came across this film when I found out it was at one stage planned to be a Winona Ryder/Tim Burton vehicle, and I have to sat I was so impressed by it that it is now one of my favorite films.With a bit of research I got the idea that this was a bad stage in Julias career, but I have to say I have never seen her better than she is in this. Her performance is just astounding, she has thus innocence and vulnerability that I never thought I'd see coming from her, she embodies the character extremely well, so well that it would have been a crime to see anyone else in the role. John Malkovich ramps up the creepy factor in this movie, his performance is also just stellar, he is truly terrifying in the scenes where he is Jekyll.Another thing I like is that this is such a great retelling of the Jekyll/ Hyde story, it's the best one I've ever seen, I think one big advantage it has is that its told from an onlookers perspective and not from an unknown or first person perspective.The cinematography is wonderful, the constant shade of grey and the overlying layer of fog both help to create the dark and moody atmosphere. I think it's definitely a movie fans of the story would enjoy and also people who aren't so familiar with it.Top notch Gothic horror that deserves to be seen....

An pretty but shy, depressed and lonely housemaid by the name of Mary Reilly (Oscar-Winner:Julia Roberts) works for Dr. Henry Jekyll (John Malkovich). When Dr. Jekyll is working on a experiment, he tells his staff (George Cole, Michael Sheen, Kathy Staff and Bronagh Gallagher) and Mary that he will have an assistant working with him. But the stuff never fully sees him and remains an mystery. But when Mary gets closer to Dr. Jekyll talking about her awful childhood to him, begin abused by her drunken mean-spirited father (Michael Gambon). Mary finds herself slowly falling in love with Dr. Jekyll but soon discovers that Dr. Jekyll has an dark side and his mysterious assistant might be related to him.Directed by Stephen Frears (The Grifters, Hero, The Hours) made an very flawed but intriguing period suspense thriller with good performances by Roberts and Malkovich. The bleak setting is nicely done by production designer:Staurt Craig (The Harry Potter Series, Chaplin, The Secret Garden) and Glenn Close has fun in her minor role as a madam. Although there was trouble during production, because Roberts and Malkovich didn't get along. The film was also over budgeted and problems with Christopher Hampton's (Atonement, The Secret Agent, Total Eclipse) script. "Mary Reilly" ended up being re-shot in the end, despite it was an reunion from the Cast and Crew of "Dangerous Liaisions" for director:Frears, screenwriter:Hampton, actors:Malkovich & Close, producer:Norma Heyman, composer:George Fenton, cinematographer:Philippe Rousselot, production designer:Craig and casting director:Juliet Taylor."Mary Reilly" does have an minor cult following, some might complain that Roberts was mis-cast but i thought she did well with his performance (Which she smiled only once in the film). One of the highlights is towards the end with Dr. Jekyll's character. Although watching the movie, it does look like at times, the movie had an troubled production. It's very flawed at times but it's Malkovich's fascinating performance keeps it together. Despite all the movie faults, it is still worth a look. Based on a novel by Valerie Martin.(*** ½/*****).