Movie Review: "Far From The Madding Crowd"

"Far From The Madding Crowd": B-.  It is always good to get the disclaimers out of the way.  Therefore, here is mine:  I have not read the English classic novel by Thomas Hardy, Far From The Madding Crowd, on which this film by the same name is based.  To the extent I have objections to the film version, therefore, I am only holding script writer David Nicholls and director Thomas Vinterberg partially at fault.  Hardy, even though he has been dead for eighty-seven years, must shoulder at least some of the responsibility.  The movie is beautifully filmed and, for the most part, splendidly acted.  Alas, it is also one of the most predictable romantic tales I've seen in several months.

The story centers around a young woman, Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), who is able to transition, thanks to the beneficence of a deceased uncle, from a nondescript life on a farm in southwestern England to becoming the proud and rich owner of a nearby estate.  Shortly before and just after she becomes aware of her good fortune, two important events occur.  First, she meets her ridiculously handsome young neighbor, Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), who proposes to her within minutes of their introduction.  "I own one hundred acres and two hundred sheep," he proclaims.  When Bathsheba politely declines, stating her position that she has no intention of ever marrying, he is momentarily surprised at her rejection and then shrugs it off, bidding her farewell as he returns on foot to tender to his flock.

The second important event is the most memorable scene in the film.  Allowing you to witness it without a detailed introduction is the best course here.  Suffice it to say that, as a result of that second event, the bright future of Gabriel is placed in jeopardy -- a reversal of fortune, you might call it.  Shortly thereafter, Bathsheba, partially out of a sense of pity, hires him as a shepherd on her magnificent ranch.

Bathsheba is no shrinking violet.  Within days of assuming ownership of the ranch, she warns her staff not to assume that her gender will lead to a laissez faire style of management.  She is setting the bar high, and in fact terminates one of her top assistants on the spot for dereliction of duty.  Bathsheba does not delegate all the hard labor, as evidenced by her working in the fields and stepping right in to the filthy trough where the sheep are washed.  She's frequently seen with dirt smudges on her cheeks.  She may be a diminutive female, but her reputation as being a worthy rancher spreads throughout the region.

This news piques the interest of William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a wealthy and older land baron who is curious enough to make a personal visit to Bathsheba.  Just as was the case with Gabriel, he too pops the question to a startled, but not quite flustered, Bathsheba.  While Gabriel was more reserved -- in fact, unemotional -- about wanting Bathsheba, Boldwood articulately reveals to her what he hopes a future together might bring.

Enter yet a third male suitor, army sergeant Francis Troy, sporting the worst looking mustache I've seen since Bret Saberhagen toed the rubber for the Kansas City Royals in the mid-eighties.  The character of Troy, and the casting of Tom Sturridge to play the part, are two huge weaknesses of the movie.  Almost nothing that occurs between Troy and Bathsheba is believable.  The worst example is a short scene in the woods where Troy, in full dress military attire, practices Zorro-like moves with his military sword above and around the stationary Bathsheba.  (And here we thought she was a smart woman!)

So there you have it, the core cast.  I guess we are supposed to feel suspense over which male Bathsheba will ultimately end up with: the humble, honest and hard-working ranch hand; the older guy who means well but for whom love is not a two-way street (cue the Moments' 1970 hit, Love On A Two-Way Street!); or, the soldier who resembles Snidely Whiplash and acts even worse.  In my view, once those three possibilities were established it was a no-brainer as to who would be the lucky fella.  I might have lost interest at that point, save for the fact that I happened to notice that Carey Mulligan has the cutest nose, strongly resembling that of my beautiful granddaughter, Rose Marie.  I entertained myself by guessing from time to time how long it would take director Vinterberg to shoot the next profile of his lead actress.  Usually I did not have to wait more than a few minutes; Vinterberg must admire Mulligan's nose too.

Getting back to my disclaimer, unless a movie is a biopic or documentary, my contention is that a filmmaker should not feel constrained to stay faithful to the original written material in adopting the story for the screen.  In fact, one could make the argument that he is required to deviate a little here and there for entertainment and commercial purposes.  Gabriel should be at least slightly imperfect, and Troy should be much less of a cad.  Regardless of how Hardy created those characters in his book, those are refinements I would have strongly suggested to Messrs. Nicholls and Vinterberg, if only they'd asked.