The Way We Live Now (2001)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

"The Way We Live Now" (2001) is a four-episode BBC miniseries directed by David Yates. The book is based on a novel written by Anthony Trollope (1815 - 1882). Trollope was a brilliant Victorian novelist, but, unlike his contemporary Charles Dickens, Trollope's name is not nearly as well known in the 21st Century. However, the BBC has produced several of his works, and they are worth seeing.This novel is Trollope's longest, and possibly his most complex. Someone has estimated that there are over 100 named characters, and subplots abound. However, all the plots and subplots involve Augustus Melmotte, a shady character with grandiose schemes. Melmotte has the uncanny ability to make people want to give him money. He wants the money because his goal in life is to be an English gentleman.If there had been a weak actor playing Augustus Melmotte, the whole movie would have fallen apart. This movie hung together because David Suchet played Melmotte so well. You'll have to see the film to know just how completely Suchet takes over the role of Melmotte.Most of the supporting cast was at the usual high BBC level. Matthew Macfadyen plays Sir Felix Carbury, the cad, very well. Paloma Baeza plays Hetta Carbury, his lovely sister who is everything Sir Felix is not. I think that the two weakest actors were Cillian Murphy as Paul Montague, and Miranda Otto as Mrs. Hurtle. Paul Montague is supposed to be the perfect Victorian hero. He's an engineer, and he isn't driven by greed. He's driven by the goal of designing and building the Mexican railroad. (The Mexican railroad is the starting point of Melmotte's rise to financial power.) The problem is that Murphy doesn't look or act the part. His character is not that different--in appearance or manner--from Sir Felix Carbury. They are supposed to be at opposite poles, but they aren't.Miranda Otto is an Australian actor who has been given the role of an American from Oregon. Otto has a strong Southern US accent, which doesn't work. It's certainly possible that Mrs. Hurtle was originally from the U.S. South, and moved to Oregon. However, her Southern accent doesn't sound right, and it's clear that she is struggling with it whenever she's on screen.As an interesting side note, Mr. Brehgert, a Jewish banker, is acted by Jim Carter, who plays Carson the butler on Downton Abbey. He's in love with an elegant Englishwoman, and his religion stands in the way of their marriage. His bank lends money to Melmotte. That's another subplot that revolves around the mysterious Augustus Melmotte.I enjoyed this miniseries, and I recommend it highly. Without Suchet it could have been a failure. With Suchet, it's a triumph. We saw it on the small screen at home, and it worked very well. (There are a few outdoor scenes that would work better in a theater, but most of them are fillers put into the movie to "open it up." The real plots take place indoors, and they work well on DVD.) Seek out this movie and watch it! You'll be glad you did.

My friends and I were watching this on Netflix, and we couldn't understand why they picked a girl to play a daughter to an English woman that was so obviously NOT English herself. We were saying, "her skin tone is off, and she looks almost Mexican???". Turns out, Paloma Baeza is this. What is wrong with picking English people to play English parts? Will an all white authentic cast make the show evil or racist? Shame on the directors of this film! This actress ruined the authenticity aspect of the show. Please take the time to contact directors of shows like this, and let them know you are hurt they do not choose authentic English people to play English parts. Outside of this, the show was very well done! David Suchet plays such amazingly convincing roles. From good guys, to bad guys... and everything in between.

"The Way We Live Now", a BBC/WGBH co-production, is powerful, and features some fine acting and well-written scenes, as well as lush settings and costumes, but it's obvious even to those who haven't read Anthony Trollope's novel that the story has been "jacked up" for modern viewers. On its own terms, the mini-series mostly gripped my attention, but I wondered if sections had been cut from the American release, because some parts of the story seem to be missing. For example, two characters who like each other in Episode 3 have already become engaged and estranged at the beginning of Episode 4--the actual proposal having been skipped over. The decision to cut such important plot elements in favor of unnecessary but atmospheric scenes (such as a wander with some characters through the forest on a fruitless deer hunt) was strange to me, but some viewers may prefer it. The director heightens many scenes by adding unnaturally loud sound effects, which will strike some as artfully intense, and others as vulgar.As far as its faithfulness to the novel, director David Yates and screenwriter Andrew Davies appear to have followed a "simplify and exaggerate" policy, presumably to make the story and characters clearer and more likable to a modern audience. It was easy to guess that the young women in the miniseries are made feistier and more independent than they are in the 19th-century original, but I was surprised, upon reading the book, to find that Paul Montague (Cillian Murphy) is also much more diffident on the page than he is on screen. Some changes fit well into a modern worldview: the love of Roger Carbury for his cousin Hetta is, rightly by today's standards, characterized as patronizing and oppressive, though Trollope wouldn't see it that way. But strangely, the fascinating character of Mrs. Hurtle, who has some of the most interesting speeches in the book, is reduced to being a "Southern" temptress in Miranda Otto's odd performance (since Mrs. Hurtle is only connected with Kansas and San Francisco in the original, the choice to make her speak like Tallulah Bankhead playing Julia Sugarbaker is puzzling).Andrew Davies' screenplay has some fine moments, and certain scenes shine. However, he gives the story the same invented ending as he's given at least one other miniseries based on a 19th-century novel.All in all, recommended for fans of period drama--with qualifications.

For those who've read Trollope's novel, this adaptation might at times feel like a bit of a departure, since like most book adaptations, the film takes some artistic liberties.But in this case, they work. By turns, this production reminded me of 'The Age of Innocence', 'Angels & Insects', and even those gorgeous Merchant-Ivory films. While this was of a slightly different caliber, the sets and costumes were equally exquisite.The Melmott family is the most entertaining with a classically surreal Tim Burton sensibility about them--odd & wickedly funny, reminding me of the characters in 'Beetlejuice' & other films with eccentric performances by the the likes of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, etc. As I'm a sucker for romantically dramatic costumes, I loved all the wardrobe for Mrs. Melmott & Marie's characters as much as their antics! And the over-the-top Melmott mansion was delicious eye candy.But the rest of the story/characters too were interesting enough to make me want to watch all 4 episodes. My other favorite character is Mrs. H., whose southern accent took a a sudden turn into a British one at times, yet was wonderful and quite watchable.And last but not least, Cillian Murphy was, as always, angelically entrancing. He and Mrs. H. made a far more interesting (and sexy) couple, but that would have been a different film altogether... All in all, if you're expecting the standard period piece, you'll get one, but with quite a bit more fun & spice thrown in! ~NN