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Mary Reilly

Mary Reilly (1996)

February. 23,1996
|
5.8
|
R
| Drama Horror Thriller

A housemaid falls in love with Dr. Jekyll and his darkly mysterious counterpart, Mr. Hyde.

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KnotMissPriceless
1996/02/23

Why so much hype?

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AniInterview
1996/02/24

Sorry, this movie sucks

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Protraph
1996/02/25

Lack of good storyline.

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MoPoshy
1996/02/26

Absolutely brilliant

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SnoopyStyle
1996/02/27

Mary Reilly (Julia Roberts) is the lowly chambermaid in the home of Dr. Henry Jekyll (John Malkovich). She is one of several servants and he is alone. He is experimenting in his lab and claims to have made a breakthrough to Mary. He announces a new visitor Edward Hyde is coming. He develops a closer relationship with Mary over the objections of the butler Mr. Poole. She reveals her abused past. He sends her to deliver a letter in secret to whorehouse madam Mrs. Farraday (Glenn Close) who agrees to rent a room to Mr. Hyde.It's all gray, dull, and flat. There is no tension and no thrills. There is definitely no mystery as the story unfolds inevitably. This is very boring. This has an old fashion Gothic horror style. The movie keeps going and going with the same flat unrelenting tone. Roberts is doing a lot of deer-in-the-headlights acting which only adds to the dull, flat feel.

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jacobjohntaylor1
1996/02/28

This a great movie. It is based on the book Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. Told from the prospective of one of Dr.Jekyll servants. This movie as great acting. It also has a great story line. It also as great special effects. This is a story of how a Doctor discovers that man has two souls and good one and evil one. He tries to serpent the two. Soul he creates a formula that brings out his evil side. Then it starts to take him over. This one of the best remake ever. It is one of the scariest movies you will ever see. It is very intense. There are not very many movie scarier then Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (1931). This is one of them. I need more lines and I am running out of thing to say.

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Jimmy Collins
1996/02/29

I initially came across this film when I found out it was at one stage planned to be a Winona Ryder/Tim Burton vehicle, and I have to sat I was so impressed by it that it is now one of my favorite films.With a bit of research I got the idea that this was a bad stage in Julias career, but I have to say I have never seen her better than she is in this. Her performance is just astounding, she has thus innocence and vulnerability that I never thought I'd see coming from her, she embodies the character extremely well, so well that it would have been a crime to see anyone else in the role. John Malkovich ramps up the creepy factor in this movie, his performance is also just stellar, he is truly terrifying in the scenes where he is Jekyll.Another thing I like is that this is such a great retelling of the Jekyll/ Hyde story, it's the best one I've ever seen, I think one big advantage it has is that its told from an onlookers perspective and not from an unknown or first person perspective.The cinematography is wonderful, the constant shade of grey and the overlying layer of fog both help to create the dark and moody atmosphere. I think it's definitely a movie fans of the story would enjoy and also people who aren't so familiar with it.Top notch Gothic horror that deserves to be seen....

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Lucien Lessard
1996/03/01

An pretty but shy, depressed and lonely housemaid by the name of Mary Reilly (Oscar-Winner:Julia Roberts) works for Dr. Henry Jekyll (John Malkovich). When Dr. Jekyll is working on a experiment, he tells his staff (George Cole, Michael Sheen, Kathy Staff and Bronagh Gallagher) and Mary that he will have an assistant working with him. But the stuff never fully sees him and remains an mystery. But when Mary gets closer to Dr. Jekyll talking about her awful childhood to him, begin abused by her drunken mean-spirited father (Michael Gambon). Mary finds herself slowly falling in love with Dr. Jekyll but soon discovers that Dr. Jekyll has an dark side and his mysterious assistant might be related to him.Directed by Stephen Frears (The Grifters, Hero, The Hours) made an very flawed but intriguing period suspense thriller with good performances by Roberts and Malkovich. The bleak setting is nicely done by production designer:Staurt Craig (The Harry Potter Series, Chaplin, The Secret Garden) and Glenn Close has fun in her minor role as a madam. Although there was trouble during production, because Roberts and Malkovich didn't get along. The film was also over budgeted and problems with Christopher Hampton's (Atonement, The Secret Agent, Total Eclipse) script. "Mary Reilly" ended up being re-shot in the end, despite it was an reunion from the Cast and Crew of "Dangerous Liaisions" for director:Frears, screenwriter:Hampton, actors:Malkovich & Close, producer:Norma Heyman, composer:George Fenton, cinematographer:Philippe Rousselot, production designer:Craig and casting director:Juliet Taylor."Mary Reilly" does have an minor cult following, some might complain that Roberts was mis-cast but i thought she did well with his performance (Which she smiled only once in the film). One of the highlights is towards the end with Dr. Jekyll's character. Although watching the movie, it does look like at times, the movie had an troubled production. It's very flawed at times but it's Malkovich's fascinating performance keeps it together. Despite all the movie faults, it is still worth a look. Based on a novel by Valerie Martin.(*** ½/*****).

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