Jude

 1/4

Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Kate Winslet, Liam Cunningham, Rachel Griffiths, June Whitfield

Rated R for Strong Sexuality and Intense Depictions of Death and Birth

"Jude" is yet another example of how a combination of big talent doesn't always lead to big success.  It certainly isn't the only one.  Does anyone remember "Allied," the WWII dud with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard and directed by Robert Zemekis?  Or "Gemini Man" with Will Smith, directed by Ang Lee and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer?  "Jude" has impressive credentials.  It's based on the classic Thomas Hardy novel "Jude the Obscure."  It stars Christopher Eccleston and Kate Winslet, two of England's brightest talents.  And it's directed by Michael Winterbottom, who has made some acclaimed films (although the only one of his I like is "Goal! The Dream Begins," and he co-directed that with Danny Cannon).  But not only doesn't this movie work as tragedy, it's two hours of misery.

Jude Fawley (James Daley) dreams of following his teacher Phillotson (Cunningham) in the field of scholarship.  The day the older man leaves for Christminster, he impresses upon the young man of the opportunities an education can bring him.  Jude takes this to heart and resigns himself to study even as an adult (Eccleston).  After his marriage to Arabella (Griffiths) fails, he sets out to achieve his dream.  While working as a stone mason and trying to get accepted into the university, he meets his cousin Sue Bridehead (Winslet).  It isn't long before they are inseparable.  But bad luck and societal prejudice take their toll, and this great love is destined to end badly for all concerned.

Tragedy need not leave the audience feeling awful.  Isn't "Hamlet" Shakespeare's most popular play?  Kate Winslet should know better than anyone, as she starred in "Titanic" and "Revolutionary Road," two films which are as tragic as they come.  There are two differences: they told their stories well and I cared about the characters.  Neither is true here.

Perhaps the problem is the source material.  I haven't read Hardy's controversial novel, but I am willing to bet that Winterbottom and his screenwriter, Hossein Amini, struggled with the adaptation because of its complexity.  Every good romance needs to show the two lovers interact and grow a deepening bond.  "Jude" is too busy covering all its bases that it forgets this.  Eccleston and Winslet are good actors and develop the appropriate chemistry needed between a shy nerd and a strong-willed woman ahead of her time, but we don't see them interact enough in the dizzy infatuation part of their romance for the second half to pay off.  Jude and Sue are strictly two-dimensional, and there's little that the two actors can do about it.

Clearly, this novel needed to be streamlined in its translation to film.  Winterbottom spends too much time showing them follow each other all over the country, running into each other and whatnot.  The first half is too much about Jude's purists (of acceptance and of Sue).  The balance is off.  The director's approach doesn't help.  Winterbottom, as is his style, keeps the characters at an arm's distance.  There's no one to truly identify with.  Sure, who hasn't felt put upon and unable to move up in the world?  More is needed to craft an affecting love story, however, and Winterbottom seems to avoid creating any sort of intimacy between the characters and the audience.

Setting aside the "ick" factor around two cousins in a sexual relationship, Winterbottom doesn't tell the story well.  It's all over the place and not enough of it gains traction to tear at the heart.  It gets to the point where one can predict what's going to happen next.  Just imagine how things can possibly get worse, and watch it happen.  What happens to them is horrible, but under the circumstances I didn't much care.

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