Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

bjarias A twenty-six year old Claire Forlani might be one of the better reasons to give this film a try. But it's not enough to make you stick with it till the very end. For half way through you may become really challenged, and begging to want to abandon it, if you have not already. Just because it is a period piece, for those partial to them, it's not anywhere near one of better quality. Story-line and acting are just too weak, and it's believed the former detracts from the latter. Except possibly in the one actor's case, for try as I want, I've yet to see her perform with above average ability in any production to date. She's beautiful for sure.. to this day, and most especially here in her late twenties. She makes a great model, as for acting, she's no Jessica Biel.

dairwendan Basil, based on the Wilkie Collins novel, has little of the novel in it. In the novel, John Mannion is a man in his forties who is completely calm at all times and intrigues Basil, as a mystery. Basil's brother, Ralph, is an ambassador and quite a playboy. Clara is Basil's younger sister. The Julia character, called Margaret in the book, is an innocent, but spoiled girl. Basil has finished college and is of age. The agreement with Mr. Sherwin is to keep the marriage a secret for a full year. The book is generally regarded as a classic Victorian pot boiler. It may be, but I prefer the movie. I like the inclusion of Basil's imaginary masked man stories as a child. In having already exiled Ralph, we see clearly what the father will do if he finds out about the relationship between Basil and Julia. Mannion here is a worldly, genial friend to Basil, introducing him to smoking cigars and talk of sex. He seems to be Basil's salvation. Clara being a child taken in by Basil's parents rather than a sibling seems contrived only for one scene, but it doesn't detract that she is not his sister. Basil, being only 20, and still at college, makes it far more believable that he would not suspect those around him of being anything but honest and honorable. The idea that the relationship must be kept secret for only three months makes the story move along faster and is more believable. The incident Basil sees as a child, involving his father, makes his Father's talk of family pride ring false. In the book Basil insists that his father is a good man, though blatantly classist, and cold to his children. In the movie, we know that he is not as good as he wants people to think.Basil's having to do manual labor, and being shocked at the pittance he gets for it is still a social issue and one Collins did not address. The inclusion of the child shows Basil to be a much more honorable, moral and principled man in the end than his father ever was. It's an interesting movie, the acting is suited to a Victorian drama, and I enjoyed it very much.

cocokat_89 I give the movie "Basil" a very high 10+. I love time period films and think "Basil" is a wonderful movie. Jared Leto was fantastic in this movie. I love all of his work on the big screen, but I have to say that His portrayal as Basil in my opinion is one of his finest performances. This movie is not boring. It has a wonderful cast, wonderful story line, and the events that unfold, to a good watcher, will unfold from the very beginning. Jared Leto, Christian Slater, and Clair Forlani are just magnificent in this film. It's very tastefully done, and the scenery is beautiful. Proper in it's time, but still society itself was not at all proper. Aristicratic life was very demanding, and to this day, still is. In the end, we are all the same no matter what class we are brought up in. I congratulate the performances in this movie, and I would love to see more movies like "Basil" on the big screen. I highly recommend "Basil" to anyone who loves period films. Thank you.

Vedek "Basil" is a curiously compelling film. I rented it purely because it "looked Victorian" and I was in the mood for something different. It turned out to be very Victorian, a family saga set somewhere in the 19th Century. Wealthy, but not titled, father has two sons. His pompous and hypocritical Victorian "family values" provide the dramatic force for the story -- otherwise, it's just a bland Harlequin-type romance. The father's confrontations with sons over women end each time with decisions totally alien to our modern sensibilities. Very jarring. Jared Leto as Basil is a little strained in his acting, but always nice to look at. C. Slater is surprisingly (and obviously) good in this "historical" role, and he has a secret which provides a twist near the end. The end itself provides a strange turn that may make you wonder if Basil wouldn't have been happier in a new-age commune in modern New Mexico. Of course, it is basically a chick-flick....