OVP: The Invisible Woman (2013)

Film: The Invisible Woman (2013)
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Hollander, Joanna Scanlan
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Costume Design)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

Ralph Fiennes frequently finds himself working with the same actresses.  Rachel Weisz, Juliette Binoche, and Vanessa Redgrave have all costarred with him more than once.  Most exhilarating for me, though, is when he finds himself in the company of one Kristin Scott Thomas.  Their chemistry in The English Patient (a personal favorite of mine) was absolutely electric, and this is their third film together.

Imagine, though, my disappointment when I found out that the two, both brilliantly sexy as lovers in the 1996 Best Picture winners, had a bit of a role reversal.  Though Scott Thomas is just two years older than Fiennes, apparently she is deemed too old to play his lover here, and instead we go with the 21 years Fiennes's junior Felicity Jones as his movie-appropriate romantic conquest.  Yes, I'm aware that this is based on actual history, but doesn't anyone find this a tad bit, well, sexist?  I mean, would it be so horribly wrong for Fiennes to date a woman his actual age on-screen?  Or to at least tell that story?  I spent most of this movie wishing that were the case, but sadly it was not, and that was one of many bits of unpleasantness I experienced while viewing The Invisible Woman.

The story is of Charles Dickens affair with the young Ellen Ternan late in his life.  Dickens, one of the greatest novelists to ever live, is presented by Fiennes as a bit of a rapscallion and quite immature.  It may be implied that his brilliance in writing about young men is that he still believes himself to be one-the film focuses quite a bit on his youthful behavior, despite long ago abandoning such chronological excuses for wild shenanigans.

The film follows their affair, and occasionally has quite interesting things to say.  Every focus that Fiennes took on the two older women in the film (Scott Thomas and Joanna Scanlan’s portrayal of Dickens’ listless wife) pays off, and you sort of wish they, and not the actual main characters, were the principle focus.  The way that Scott Thomas knows that her daughter’s best chance for survival may in fact be as the mistress of a wealthy man is heart-breaking, and she spares no moment pointing out such in her troubled eyes and constant worry.  Even better is Scanlan, who as Dickens’ wife, is the object of our pity even though Scanlan doesn’t always emote.  She frequently is willing to blend into the background, and we see why Dickens has tired of her, as she is far more concerned about observing, but not speaking.  And yet, when he abandons her not through telling her, but through a letter in the paper, we get to see her breakdown.  Her entire life, shattered by no actions of her own but everything related to her husband-these sorts of commentaries about the incredibly painful waters of the 19^th century woman, even a very privileged one, are territory not tread enough in cinema and well worth the investigation.

The film falls apart when put into the hands of Felicity Jones, though.  Jones, whom most people will recognize from her work in Like Crazy, is an actress of great beauty, but as I have found time and again, very little skill.  She cannot emote or connect with her characters in any real way, and I find her extremely flat on-screen.  This is now the third film that I've seen her in (there was also Julie Taymor's awful The Tempest), and I have been either underwhelmed or in this case, thinking she was completely wrong for the part.  Clearly casting directors see something in her, but it's not coming across on-screen, and with her rising star, I find that to be wildly disappointing, since I'm going to continue to see more of her at the movies.

Considering she's the lead character, it's hard to celebrate the rest of the film with such a blase work in the center.  Scanlan and Scott Thomas are the reasons to go (Fiennes, perhaps my favorite working actor, is good but cannot get enough chemistry with Jones to make his performance something to talk about), as well as the Oscar-nominated costumes (stuffy, heavy, and a great combination of aged and expensive, this is a beautifully outfitted film and I'm glad the costuming branch discovered it to make it part of the OVP), but for a film that featured my English Patient actors, I left totally unfazed and a bit bored.

What did you think of The Invisible Woman?  Did you, like me, think Felicity Jones was all-wrong for the part or are you like crazy over this actress?  Where was the Oscar heat for Joanna Scanlan?  And where would you rank this film in the Best Costume category from last year?  Share in the comments!