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Overall Rating
3.74

Awesome: 29.31%
Worth A Look: 29.31%
Average31.03%
Pretty Bad: 6.9%
Total Crap: 3.45%

2 reviews, 46 user ratings


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Lolita (1997)
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by Filmink Magazine (owes us money)

"Will not have you locking up your daughters."
3 stars

Irons is in trouble and out of luck again as Humbert Humbert, the school teacher with a passion for nymphets in the second adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel Lolita. With a portfolio including films such as Damage, Stealing Beauty and more recently Chinese Box Irons is again the ideal candidate: genteel Englishman required for illegitimate affair. Still, his glamour, like that of James Mason in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 version takes the bite out of what is essentially a film about paedophilia.

We're in New England, America around the 1940's and Humbert has come to lodge with a young woman before taking up a teaching position. Griffith plays Annabelle who, on showing Humbert to his quarters, introduces him to her daughter Dolores, or Lolita as she's affectionately known.

Using a generous amount of slow-motion photography, director Lyne (91/2 Weeks, Fatal Attraction) lets it be known the effect Lolita has on Humbert. The effect works, but in doing so he seems to have slowed the entire film down.

The film's main success is the voice-over narration of Irons, cleverly integrating Nabokov's prose in questioning the legitimacy of the relationship.

Newcomer Swain (Face/Off) is convincing opposite Irons. Her see-sawing from little girl to young woman is disconcerting at times and together they convey the confusion over who they are and who they should be: stepfather and daughter or lovers.

Lyne gets carried away though. He piles on the symbolism: you could see the banana-eating scene a mile off and the film's tempo or lack thereof upsets the intended subtlety of the situation they're in. The ultimate letdown however is the silly ending.

Although it's not quite enough to offset the strength of the two main performances, it adds farce where it isn't needed. Despite the political furore it's caused in Australia, Lolita will not have you locking up your daughters. ---Lex Hall

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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=77&reviewer=14
originally posted: 03/27/99 17:22:16
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User Comments

1/04/10 art UNFORTUNATELY IT"LL LIVE in the SHADOW OF KUBRICK"S 62 original 3 stars
10/03/06 dee i find H.H. ironically, very sexy. jeremy irons makes this image perpetuate even more so. 4 stars
5/11/06 jonathon lebo kubricks version is probably better 3 stars
6/03/05 Pinkline Jones Very good - Great Soundtrack 4 stars
8/06/04 This girl Boring as all get out. Kubrick is ten times the fillmmaker Lyne is. 2 stars
3/23/04 Trannon Goble Beautiful artsy flick, bad ending 4 stars
1/16/04 Ubu the Ripper Insanely wonderful....ah what a fantasy. 5 stars
11/27/03 John Kubrick's is comedy this one is drama ( both are great) 5 stars
9/25/03 fern both versions are sentimentally great 4 stars
4/07/03 Jack Sommersby A beautiful and touching cinematic achievement. Irons and Lyne triumph! 5 stars
10/24/02 Charles Tatum Better than Kubrick's version 5 stars
7/24/02 hum i dont think Lyne "gets" the book 2 stars
6/25/02 Law Dominique Swain was brillant 5 stars
4/02/02 El Talboto It would be hard to mess up a Nabakov story 5 stars
3/05/02 Alan Smithee Much better than Kubrick's already decent version. 5 stars
12/12/01 slappy jacks damn good telling 5 stars
7/17/01 Piz Well casted and definitely engaging material but suffers from script holes and a bad ending 4 stars
3/01/01 pop wow 1 stars
1/02/01 Emily good, but read the book. 3 stars
12/26/00 Errgh Fantastic; brilliantly adapted, brilliantly shot, brilliantly acted. Better than Kubrick! 5 stars
10/02/00 Madoc69 Good but not up to the hype 3 stars
3/13/00 Pervo the Impotent Actor with the Silly Mustache a really sad movie...but did they have to show me naked?! 5 stars
11/24/99 the Grinch Very good! Takes a different approach than book, but a solid and powerful movie. 4 stars
11/05/99 hum has the story but not the spirit of the book 2 stars
10/07/99 sophia962 See it and piss off a right wing religious fanatic. Griffith was surprisingly good. 4 stars
9/21/99 Trotsky Swain & Irons r great, so is cinematography. Read the book, it is brilliant! 4 stars
9/19/99 JJ It was OK not great--buy the book-- 3 stars
6/15/99 Dylan Kubricks version was shit, the novel is ok and this remake was fucking great...esp. Irons. 5 stars
4/13/99 little jerry Superior to the Kubrick.Swain brilliantly gets the horny bitch/little girl seesaw effect. 5 stars
4/11/99 Sarah Norris The Lolita censorship debate shows where Australia is heeded- Backwards! 4 stars
4/04/99 Freyja Good adaptation, but see Kubrick's for a real treat. And, Devin, shut up. 5 stars
12/05/98 DrEvil Good Nabokov adaptation, despite seeing Frank Langella's dick (unless you're into that). 4 stars
11/13/98 Cheryl Suk't and see! 5 stars
11/13/98 Jules I don't know what all the hub-bub was about, but this was a damn good film. Great acting. 4 stars
11/02/98 Tony Kondaks A classic. Swain is fantastic and so is Langella. Great music. 5 stars
10/29/98 Angelika Vladimir Nabakov is a genius. 4 stars
10/29/98 zenball Swain was worthy and Irons was great 4 stars
10/17/98 Mr Showbiz Lyne's faithful adaptation is overlong and surprisingly dull. 3 stars
10/13/98 tom wood jeremy irons was awesome----swain has a fuyure 5 stars
10/01/98 Devin Mckay Any movie about a hot piece of jailbait like that is worth a look 4 stars
9/28/98 Heather Not as evil as they'd have you believe. Not bad, overall. 4 stars
9/18/98 Couch Potato Critic A superb showing of the fall of the human spirit. 4 stars
9/09/98 Nuey definitely worth it -- Jeremy Irons nails the character 5 stars
9/08/98 Young Einstein Why would anyone see this when they could see the original *MUCH BETTER* version? 1 stars
9/06/98 BBReBozo Seeing Frank Langella's penis kept this from 5 stars. 4 stars
8/25/98 Mister Whoopee Word. Don't know what all the fuss is about. 2 stars
IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA
  25-Sep-1998 (R)
  DVD: 05-Feb-2002

UK
  N/A

Australia
  15-Apr-1999 (R)




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