I had seldom looked forward to a drama so much as War and Peace, when I first heard of its release I thought they'd strike gold, the opportunities were huge, sadly the realisation wasn't up to the high expectations I had.
I'll start with the positives, the scenery was superb, the locations, spellbinding, you cannot help but admire. On occasion the filming looked quite good. Gillian Anderson looked jaw dropping, but perhaps more suited to a drama that wasn't War and Peace.
Sadly some of the casting felt wildly wide of the mark, at times I felt like Victoria Wood and Julie Walters were going to jump out with a funny line, it had that historical comedy feel at times. They failed to capture the edge of Tolstoy's novel, it was too light, lacking any sort of Russian edge. Paul Dano was shockingly cast, some actors have a modern appearance and presence, he certainly has, he felt out of place.
I love James Norton, he's a brilliant, hugely capable actor who deserves a lot more then this.
Sadly this missed the mark. It somehow just doesn't feel right, 4/10
I'll start with the positives, the scenery was superb, the locations, spellbinding, you cannot help but admire. On occasion the filming looked quite good. Gillian Anderson looked jaw dropping, but perhaps more suited to a drama that wasn't War and Peace.
Sadly some of the casting felt wildly wide of the mark, at times I felt like Victoria Wood and Julie Walters were going to jump out with a funny line, it had that historical comedy feel at times. They failed to capture the edge of Tolstoy's novel, it was too light, lacking any sort of Russian edge. Paul Dano was shockingly cast, some actors have a modern appearance and presence, he certainly has, he felt out of place.
I love James Norton, he's a brilliant, hugely capable actor who deserves a lot more then this.
Sadly this missed the mark. It somehow just doesn't feel right, 4/10