The French Lieutenant's Woman

It's a quality production and Streep and Irons bring impeccable acting to the table, but this stretched out to an overlong melodrama (times two), and I just didn't feel connected to the characters. At its strongest, the film shows the suffocating world of a woman in the Victorian age, with judgmental old prudes keeping a close eye on sinful walks in the woods (gasp!), and women at risk of being committed to an institution for simply not following a conventional prim and proper path. I'm not sure I felt the passion however, and the film seemed a little detached and manipulative, say what you will about the power of Victorian repression. I got even less out of the modern story and the 'film within a film' aspect, though it was interesting to see the power shift in the woman's favor in the following century. All in all, it's a decent enough film, but it's one I wouldn't want to revisit.