Aside from the poor writing and directing mentioned in the summary, the consistently stilted acting stands out. It would be entirely unfair to try and single out anyone for what were never more than occasional, brief moments of believable acting. Given the (well nigh all-star) cast, this is quite an exceptional achievement! The anachronistic props and totally implausible behaviour of the main characters have already been mentioned in other comments.
Though not in the habit of staying with clearly substandard fair (even when compared to Hollywood's 'normal' offerings!), I persisted, for two reasons. First, the historical period has always been of great interest to me, and I was unfamiliar with Fry's story. Second (and this was, I suppose, a perverse reason), I was curious to see whether anything could be this bad for a full two hours. It was.
It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the chief (if not only) culprit in all this is the writer/director. But there is at least a glimmer of a 'silver lining' here: having never heard of him, I can now take care to avoid his work in the future.
Though not in the habit of staying with clearly substandard fair (even when compared to Hollywood's 'normal' offerings!), I persisted, for two reasons. First, the historical period has always been of great interest to me, and I was unfamiliar with Fry's story. Second (and this was, I suppose, a perverse reason), I was curious to see whether anything could be this bad for a full two hours. It was.
It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the chief (if not only) culprit in all this is the writer/director. But there is at least a glimmer of a 'silver lining' here: having never heard of him, I can now take care to avoid his work in the future.