The Aspern Papers

Awful, just awful. Fashion - gorgeous. Set designs - spectacular. Story idea - intriguing. Movie - BORING. Jonathan R-M's acting - awful, just awful. Why is he shouting his lines? Ending - waste of time. 90 minutes of your life you will never get back.

The thing about this particular movie is that it had a good story. And it could've been a great movie just telling said story. But the movie decided to be artsy. And it was ruined for that. Then it got messy, dragged itself for ages in senseless scenes, and its greatest sin, wasted a solid performance for Vanessa Redgrave.

Visually stunning and although it was a slow burn, it was worth it in the end. My only complaints and reason for less than10 stars is because the character development just wasn't there and John Reyes Meyer was terrible in this movie!! I'm normally a fan (somewhat) but in this film he acted as though he was filming his first movie out of drama school, absolutely terrible acting, the way he spoke drove me crazy! It was like he was reading lines he had just read for the first time 10 mins before! He had NO emotion or understanding of the meaning behind the words/lines. It really distracted and annoyed me throughout the film. Other than that it was fine. The 2 main female roles were AMAZING! Especially the elder lady.

I liked this artistically done movie adaptation of the Henry James story. It's beautifully shot in Venitian palazzi and the music is so appropriately used especially the Liszt piano music and Wagner at the end.

The Aspern Papers is a short novel so there's not a lot of story in this movie. But what's there is a still affecting tale of a writer with an ulterior motive and the spinster who might be able to give him the dead poet's letters he wants.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers acts strangely here - stiff and unconvincing. He delivers his lines theatrically with a strange American accent that doesn't quite convince. Joely does a convincing job as a whithered spinster who blossoms. Vanessa Redgrave really knows how to act like an old person who is in her final chapter of life.

Worth a watch.

Oh dear me, what a frightful mess. Really no or little story line with such wooden acting from the main protagonist it was painful to watch. Avoid.