Dorian Gray

How Ominous!

Another adaptation of the Oscar Wilde story. Film is about Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes), a man taken by the hedonism bug shown to him by Lord Wotton (Colin Firth). Upon having his portrait painted, Dorian comes to never age, but at what cost?

Clearly not faithful to the literary source, Oliver Parker's film is an interesting misfire. As a sexy chiller it kinda works, having more in common with Hammer Films of the 70s than with Wilde's prose. Yet it often feels like style over substance, blood or nudity for blood and nudity's sake. While strong performances by Firth and late in the play by Rebecca Hall hold the attention, Barnes is bland and apart from being pretty, is unconvincing. Also irritating is Charlie Mole's musical sc...

Handballs it in on just about every important (and engaging) aspect of the actual Portrait of Dorian Gray story.

Final rating: - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.

It's a shame that such a theoretically perfect Dorian Gray as Stuart Townsend was wasted on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Sure, at 31, Townsend was arguably too old for the role in 2003, and even more so in 2009, the year this Dorian Gray was released; he was also too expressive, and based on both this film and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), it seems that the ideal Dorian Gray is a blank page an unpainted canvas, so to speak, and while this makes a degree of sense, it does leave us wondering what exactly everyone sees in the titular character.

This is especially true of Ben Barnes, whos so irresistible that he strips a young debutante of her virtue and, when her mother tries protests, he sleeps with her too, winning a bet i...

I know "Dorian Gray" was supposed to be beautiful, but I doubt if Oscar Wilde would have wanted something this insipidly pretty or seedy! It's Ben Barnes who tries to step up to the plate in the title role and he falls pretty flat. "Gray" is a young man who mixes with all and aims high after inheriting a modest house in London. Quickly he falls prey to the more debauched elements of society, led by "Lord Wotton" (Colin Firth) and begins to leave behind his moderating friends like painter "Hallward" (Ben Chaplin). It's a portrait done by that man that seems to be acting as a sponge for the increasingly selfish and odious "Gray". No matter how odious his behaviour, he seems to have the gift of eternal youth and immortality. He treats everyone...