My Cousin Rachel-2017
Director Roger Michell
Starring Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin
Scott’s Review #685
Reviewed September 25, 2017
Grade: B-
My Cousin Rachel (2017) has the advantage of providing wonderful, scenic locales in Florence, Italy, and lovely scenes filmed around England, which make the film a joy to watch from a cinematic perspective.
The acting, especially by seasoned veteran Rachel Weisz, is also stellar and noteworthy.
The plot, however, is a big negative to the film as My Cousin Rachel suffers from weak dramatic storytelling, an anti-climactic conclusion, and missed opportunities with the plot.
The film is based on Daphne du Maurier’s 1951 novel of the same name. I have yet to read the book, but I am certain the film does it no justice. The overall tone of the film contains little mystique, to say nothing of lacking any sort of haunting elements as one might expect to receive with titillating anticipation.
The story begins well enough as, through narration, we learn that a young man named Philip, having been orphaned as a child and raised by his older cousin, Ambrose, returns home from school to his childhood home in lavish Cornwall.
Through a letter, he learns that Ambrose has married his widowed cousin, Rachel, and has moved to Florence. He also cryptically writes that he is in fear for his life and suspects Rachel of poisoning him.
The main plot starts after Philip finally meets Rachel and astonishingly falls madly in love with her.
To be fair, the film is shot beautifully and glimmers with interesting camera angles. In a few hallucination scenes, the filmmaker uses a blurry, almost magical film-making style.
The aforementioned locales give My Cousin Rachel a sophisticated, graceful look. On the negative side of this filming evaluation, the lighting is much too bright, appearing more like an episode of the PBS series Downton Abbey rather than the mysterious, cryptic film that My Cousin Rachel is promoted as.
The best thing about the film is the outstanding acting performance by Rachel Weisz as the title character, Rachel. While not played quite as mysterious, Weisz envelopes her character with a passionate, earnest quality that sells the character as enchanting.
With a winning smile and a polite, dutiful manner, Rachel is tough to imagine as a murderess, which helps the lackluster plot just a bit. She happily makes a “special” tea or performs other household tasks with cheerful, uniform pizzazz.
Without Weisz in the role, I shudder to think how bleak the result might have been.
Early on in the story, Philip’s wealthy family, the Kendalls, are surprised that Ambrose married, as he was never known to be in or enjoy the company of women. It also must be noted that in flashbacks, Ambrose is portrayed as somewhat effeminate or, at most, less than manly.
This seems a blatant attempt to question the character’s sexuality, yet the film chooses never to pursue this topic again. I know how the novel handled this plot item, but it seems like a wasted opportunity.
Chemistry, or lack thereof, is also an issue with My Cousin Rachel. No connection between Weisz and Claflin exists throughout, nor is there any between either character and Philip’s intended love interest, Louise Kendall, played by Holliday Grainger.
The actress is acceptable in a role given little meat or substance.
Uneven at best, My Cousin Rachel is a beautiful-looking period piece, but it is mostly just mediocre filmmaking. The ending is quite sudden and definitively answers none of the main plot questions.
Released in 2017, the film will likely be forgotten by 2018.
