EFFIE GRAY

Cert 12.

104 mins.

Drama/Romance.

Starring Dakota Fanning, Greg Wise, Julie Walters, David Suchet, James Fox, Emma Thompson, Tom Sturridge, Derek Jacobi, Russell Tovey.

VICTORIAN art critic John Ruskin (Greg Wise) falls under the spell of 19-year-old Effie Gray (Dakota Fanning) and they marry.

A formal visit to his parents (David Suchet, Julie Walters) opens Effie’s eyes to the solitude that she will have to bear for the rest of her life.

Mrs Ruskin, in particular, makes evident her disdain for her boy’s choice of bride.

Eventually, Ruskin spirits Effie up to Scotland with Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge), who has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the eminent critic.

Physical attraction between Millais and Effie threatens to spark a full-blown affair but lowly wives do not divorce wealthy husbands and Effie must continue to suffer in silence.

Based on the real-life marital woes of Ruskin and his teenage bride, Effie Gray has the right ingredients for a swoonsome, bosom-heaving period romance but something doesn’t quite gel in Richard Laxton’s picture.

Fanning is a touching heroine, mustering courage in her hour of need with encouragement from Emma Thompson in an eye-catching supporting role as the catalyst for female empowerment.

Wise has little to do besides the occasional sneer.

Walters and Suchet make their mark in limited screen time, adding daubs of colour to the film’s palette.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Thompson (Sense And Sensibility) returns to the stifled emotions and rigorous social etiquettes of 19th-century English society.

Dialogue is well crafted - “If imperfection is your ideal, you must think me very beautiful” – but for all its prosaic wonder, Laxton’s film lacks the emotional sucker punch that seems to be coming from the dreamy opening frames.