My Cousin Rachel

Tales of obsession are only interesting when we come to share -- or at least understand -- a character's single-mindedness. In adapting Daphne Du Maurier's 1951 novel My Cousin Rachel, writer-director Roger Michell (Persuasion, Notting Hill) has created what amounts to a movie about a whiny guy making foolish decisions.

Love makes people do impulsive and thoughtless things, but when it comes to Philip Ashley (Sam Claflin, Their Finest), it's hard to tell if it's infatuation or standard operating procedure.

Philip is an orphan who winds up inheriting a seaside estate in 19th-century England. His cousin Ambrose, who raised him, dies after a whirlwind courtship with a mysterious woman named Rachel (Rachel Weisz). She's enigmatic -- there's hardly any information about her other than her late husband's letters from Italy, which start out euphoric before taking a dark turn.

While Ambrose was obviously ill, Philip has no qualms about blaming his death on Rachel. But when she invites herself to the estate he'll soon inherit, Philip discovers a seemingly different person. If she did indeed kill Ambrose or drive him to an early grave, she has nothing to show for it. Ambrose's will lists no beneficiaries but Philip.

In person, Rachel comes off as amiable and still smitten with her late husband, but she disappears at odd times and spends money far too freely. Philip, nonetheless, wants to give her an allowance once he reaches age 25 and shares Ambrose's attraction toward her.

As the relationship progresses, everyone around Philip tells him that his actions on Rachel's behalf are inadvisable. The problem with the movie is that it's a little too easy to side with Philip's mentors against him. While Philip is supposed to be 24, he seems less naive than self-destructive. Like the supporting characters, one feels like writing him off instead of telling him to show Rachel kindness or to get her out of his life.

Whether he's enamored of or angry with Rachel, Philip seems profoundly unsympathetic. Claflin ranges from petulant to irritating.

As the actual mystery woman, Weisz can be enigmatic without becoming wooden. There's something going on behind her warm brown eyes, but exactly what is not obvious. Weisz imbues Rachel with a desire for independence, so some of her actions make sense even if they are inadvisable. She also seems a great deal smarter than her prospective beau, so it's easy to side with her even when she appears to be plotting something dire for Philip.

While the supporting cast is good, Michell's script doesn't give them much to build on. It's easy to get some of Philip's advisers mixed up. It's also odd that we never learn why Philip becomes so focused on Rachel when the other women in the area practically throw themselves at him. Were their characters more fleshed out we might understand why Philip ignores them.

My Cousin Rachel features terrific camera work from Mike Eley, and Michell certainly gets the tone and setting right. But the figures in the foreground seem to be competing against the cliffside scenery instead of occupying it.

MovieStyle on 06/09/2017