Depravity is better suggested than made explicit when it becomes vulgar, pornographic or comic, and possibly all three.
Comment
09/18/09
Dorian Gray (2010)
47
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:30
Fresh:14
Rotten:16
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: Despite a lavish and polished production, Dorian Gray is tame and uninspired with a lifeless performance by Ben Barnes in the title role.
Rated: 15
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:09-09-2009
Synopsis: Oliver Parker has made an impressive career out of directing stylish adaptations of the Oscar Wilde plays THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, and now he continues his work with... [More]
Starring: Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin, Rebecca Hall
Director: Oliver Parker
Reviews for Dorian Gray
A sturdy piece of heritage horror, as tasteful and handsome as any Brit movie with bustles and frock-coats on its agenda.
09/14/09
Teenagers will love this film. They will love it because there are lots of close-ups of Barnes being done unto or doing unto others. As a vehicle for a rising and undeniably talented star, it hits the spot.
09/11/09
An ambitious if decidedly uneven interpretation of the last great Gothic horror novel.
09/11/09
Top CriticThese are interesting ideas, but they would work better if there was more decadence on show earlier on to nail Gray’s corruption.
09/11/09
Top CriticWilde survives intact - and with some flair - although the results will do more for sixth-form literature students and their teachers than for film connoisseurs.
09/11/09
Top CriticSome neat formal flourishes from its director Oliver Parker and a truly handsome supporting turn from Colin Firth, this story demands a more versatile and charismatic central player than the powerfully blank Ben Barnes.
09/11/09
Top CriticIt has the style of a Hammer shocker from decades ago; Wilde's romance is caricatured, certainly, but the whole thing is socked over with gusto.
09/11/09
Top CriticBeyond mildly risqué bisexual assignations, the filmmaking isn’t terribly adventurous, but cinematographer Roger Pratt gives it an inky opulence, and it’s quite watchable.
09/11/09
Top CriticParker directs his version like a kid who, after one too many Haribos, has been let loose with a bumper-pack of poster paints.
09/11/09
Both the visceral sense and the little grey cerebral cells are well served within the company of such a pleasingly ambiguous age-defying title character in the shape of Dorian Gray.
09/11/09
Just like Dorian, it’s all style and no substance. And valiant turns from Firth and co can’t save this from being a melodramatic, overwrought mess.
09/11/09
A perfectly serviceable slab of gothic horror which - even if it glosses over Wilde's philosophical subtexts - packs a considerable punch.
09/11/09
This polished affair is easy on the eye but cold to the touch. You end up wondering why it was made at all, beyond giving lazy schoolkids a pre-exam crib.
09/11/09
This is not Wilde. It's tame and dreary, with no energy, suspense or horror. When the picture of Dorian's demonic soul is finally uncovered, it resembles not so much evil incarnate as the late Max Wall.
09/11/09
While Dorian Gray is a visually impressive take on 19th Century London, it is a little bit dull - a reflection of Ben himself.
09/11/09
It is a fairly good-looking film, but eccentrically cast – Ben Barnes is insufficiently charismatic in the central role – and the real problem is that while it has some effective moments of horror it is, as a drama, peculiarly inert.
09/11/09
Parker's staging and direction are hopelessly inert; the orgy scenes are knocked off from Eyes Wide Shut, while the later movement into darkness looks (and sounds) like a cheap slasher movie.
09/11/09
Disappointing horror adaptation that has one or two good points but is ultimately let down by a lacklustre script, unimaginative direction and a shockingly bland performance by Ben Barnes.
09/11/09
Oscar Wilde's classic novel is turned into a schlock horror movie, totally engulfed by gloomy atmosphere and over-the-top filmmaking. It's watchably cheesy, but completely lacks Wilde's incisive wit or observation.
09/11/09
Latest News for Dorian Gray
September 20, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
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