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Review

Director Frears' disjointed adaptation of the tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde uses the intriguing premise of following the action from the point of view of the good doctor's maidservant, Mary Reilly (Roberts). This might have been (should have been) an excellent launch pad for a new examination of the intricacies of good and evil. Though the script has some elements that lead in that direction, it ultimately shies away from any substantive exploration of amorality. The film eventually becomes a claustrophobic and uninteresting spine-tingler along the lines of another British Gothic film, The Turn of the Screw. Also primary to the film's laconic pace is Malkovich's stoic performance as Jekyll and Hyde. Roberts, usually the one to pick on critically, gives an able performance, mildly believable Irish accent and all.