The performances in this film are, for the most part, worthwhile. Robin Wright is radiant, Morgan Freeman solid, and Stockard Channing makes the most of her role, to the point that I think it was worthy of an Oscar nomination. (Why is this woman's craftsmanship so underrated? I'd like to know...) And I liked John Lynch as the artist. But there are some really dull stretches here that might have been helped with more secure, tighter writing. This was a colorful era -- and the costumes and settings in the film seem appropriate -- but the story is so bland that I found myself nodding off from time to time. -- The biggest puzzle to me is : Why call it "Moll Flanders" after Daniel Defoe's book/heroine, when the story is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE the book? Overall, a disappointment. There's some good meat in this stew, but, in the end, it makes for only so-so movie-watching...
Review of Moll Flanders
