Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

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.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

redkrypto-16659 I'm not going to waste a bunch of your time. My wife and I watched this on Netflix and both agree it was ridiculously, over-the-top, terrible. It is as if they wanted to make the worst movie in movie making history and hit a home run. Bravo!! Trust me, no matter how bored you are it's not bad enough to watch this piece of crap. Go outside, go for a walk, throw a ball around with your kid, pop a game in the X Box, lay on a bed of nails, smash your head against a wall until you pass out... do anything except waste two hours of your life on this piece of garbage. Know that you have been warned and I feel like I have done my good deed for the day. Gotta go wash my eyes out with soap now and do what I can to unsee this thing!! Wish there were a zero star option!

SloaneWasHere Not having seen the play or being familiar with the story, I was expecting a romantic and sexually charged period piece as that's what the trailer implied. What I saw was a mentally ill woman being 'taken advantage of' (to put it mildly) by a man out to avenge his brother's death by playing mind games with her and ultimately absolving himself of any responsibility by encouraging her to take her own life. I was not prepared for a tragedy, and it left a sour feeling. The acting was intense and well done, the dialogue was poetic at times, and Colin's 'John' was a spot-on manipulating character. Jessica was outstanding in portraying existential pain and desperation to be free of it. It was painful to watch - which I'm sure is the point - but I would have appreciated knowing before watching that this is ultimately a tragedy and not -as labeled- a romance.

Matthew Kresal From the works of William Shakespeare to more modern works, stage plays have always provided a rich source of material for filmmakers. August Strindberg's 1888 play Miss Julie has apparently been a particularity rich source, having been adapted for the screen more than a dozen times in little more than a century. While not being overly familiar with the play, and perhaps drawn more by the actors than the source material, I recently sat down to take in the latest film version of the play and discovered an interesting, if often contradictory piece of work.On the surface, the film is well acted. There's only really three performers in the whole film: Jessica Chastain as the title character, Colin Farrell as the valet John and Samantha Morton as the maid Katherine who is also John's finance. Chastainis perfect casting as Miss Julie, the daughter of a wealthy baron sitting at home alone on a midsummer's night in 1890 who finds her fragile little world thrown into chaos. If there's any reason to watch the film it's Chastain who, with her red hair and green eyes standing out against her blue dress, goes on a remarkable emotional journey between extremes of happiness and sadness, authority and submissiveness, maturity and childishness, quiet contemplation and fits of anger before realizing that she is ultimately trapped by the world and situation she finds herself in. In a way, Chastain's performance sums up the entire film: beautiful, fragile and a mess of contradictions.Then there's Farrell and Morton. Of the trio, Farrell is the weakest in that his acting often seems forced rather than natural, making him at odds with his co-stars. Mot to mention an Irish brogue so thick you'll likely have to turn on subtitles to understand it which rather undermines the refined air that the character tries to put on and is meant to have (though that might be a deliberate move, it's hard to tell). That said, there's an undeniable chemistry between him and Chastain that makes their lengthy and at times unlikely encounters interesting to watch. Morton, the member of the trio with the least amount of screen time, comes across as an often silent and appalled witness to the events unfolding around her. It's her quiet, understated performance that makes for a wonderful contrast with the sometimes explosive performance Chastain gives. Together, they make for an interesting group of performers who bring the film to life.What makes their performances interesting is the script, adapted from the original play. Ultimately all three of these characters go on the same journey and discover the same thing: that despite whatever actions they may take they're ultimately trapped in the world and roles they find themselves in. What they do with that fact is what defines them. There's more to it than that of course as sparks fly in not only a battle of class but also of the sexes as each tries to gain the upper-hand over the other with consequences that ultimately prove both disastrous and that have an almost tragic inevitability to them. Even as character's bounce back and forth between emotional extremes, it somehow seems believable under the circumstances as roles are reversed and hearts both laid bare and broken in the space of a single night. The results are incredible to watch...at times.Which brings us to the production. The direction of Liv Ullmann, and the editing of Michal Leszczylowski, has the film unfold not with the white-hot intensity suggested by the dialogue or indeed the performances often suggest. Instead, the film unfolds slowly, never really building up momentum as it takes the viewer on its two hour journey. It's something that turns what could have been a fascinating, well paced drama into one that is as often infuriatingly static despite the emotions and tension building up between the characters. Making up for that is the film's visuals in the form of some beautiful cinematography from Mikhail Krichman as well as the sets and costumes of Mikhail Krichman and Consolata Boyle respectively. It's the combination of their work, and some gorgeous shots of the Irish countryside that makes the film visually interesting to watch when the direction and editing undermine performances. Yet they can't save the film from being at times the one thing it shouldn't be: dull.What are we to make of the film then? There's beautiful visuals and performances, including some of Chastain's best work to date in a career full of memorable performances. Yet the film is also treated with a fragility that at times undermines the drama unfolding within it as well as those aforementioned elements. It's an emotional drama that is played in a fashion that is contradictory to its nature and renders it at times utterly dull. In the end, the film is perhaps too much like its title character: beautiful, fragile and a mess of contradictions.

eyeintrees Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell are superb. Although the critics seem to hate this movie, lauding it to be nothing like they imagined the play to be, nonetheless, having not ever seen the play or read it, I had nothing to base my preconceived ideas on. Therefore, this was something of a masterpiece. Incredible performances from the actors, painful, and actually a treatise to the hideous mores and codes of its times, despite being adapted by Liv Ullman, the over-riding theme is astonishing when you discover that the original play was written in 1888, and depicts the absurdities of human belief systems and caste systems. In this day and age, they would have had a rollick one night, said goodbye and avoided each other's eyes in the hallway whilst getting the heck on with their lives! A story of a very lonely, overly sensitive young woman who has no idea what life is about, and the sanctimonious serving maid who thinks that Jesus will save her, and how ultimately, a poor boy has a turmoil of stored hatred and vindictiveness toward the gentry, albeit rightly so, yet turns that into a crime that is inconceivable. An utterly brilliant work. Kudos to Liv Ullman. If you want action, no dialogue, and joy, this movie might not be for you. But if you want to take a good, long look at how evil the natural function of humanity is made by an unnatural society, this is a winner.