The Picture

I watched "Dorian Gray" the other night, and I must say, I was thoroughly disappointed.
To be fair, the movie had a lot to live up to... Oscar Wildes book was incredible and well written. A classic worth reading... It's well known for a reason.
But the movie, on the other hand... Just didn't do it for me. Maybe it was because it really didn't follow the book at all. Other than the Character names, and a few key moments from the book's plot, everything seemed wrong to me.
For example, the main characters:
Dorian Gray, Henry Wotton, and Basil Hallward.
Dorian was supposed to be a blushing boy, at the beginning of the book, Innocent and all together impressionable. I suppose they got some of that right... but just barely. Ben Barns was certainly a dashing looking young man who fit the "look" of the character, but at times the acting was rough... Or at least it didn't follow the way i felt Dorian Gray would have acted.
Henry Wotton was even worse. In the book, he's a smooth talker, with a dashing mind. Suave, i would say. The movie portrays him as kniving, and not very subtle. What i liked about the book version of Henry Wotton, was his subtlety, the fact that his words were so true... and yet so wrong. The movie does use a few of his monologues in it, which is nice, but I don't feel it's true to the spirit of the book.
Basil Hallward's role in the movie was cut short, and i believe it could have been fleshed out much better. In the movie, he's hardly a main character really, just someone who needs to be there, to get the ball rolling.. And as soon as he's not needed, his character is snuffed. Not so in the book. While he spends a lot of the time on the sidelines, he's the voice of reason and security, and really makes a lot more sense.
Another problem i found, was that the plot was spoon fed to us. There were obvious and gaudy times of forshadowing, both visual like "Flash forwards" as well as audible, in what the characters said to each other. Forshadowing can be very good for a movie... as long as it's kept subtle. I think part of the intrigue of the original novel is that while you have an idea of whats going on and going to happen, there's still that chance that something else may happen.

I think the additional character of Emily Wotton was quite nicely done. She's a very refreshing and enjoyable character... though she truly doesn't belong in the book. She works well for the movie adaption, and probably one of the high points in the movie.

The movie also pays too much attention to the sexual side of Dorian Gray. Yes, dorian is corrupted and corrupts others, but scene after orgy scene is quite enough, thank you. I've got nothing against a sexual scene or two... But a good section of the movie is about nothing but Dorian scandalous sex life. Again, the subtlety of the book does this much better than the movie. The book mentions "What happened to" so and so, and how certain women cannot show their faces again in public because of Dorian... We know what happened, or can at least assume, but there's nothing more said. It keeps things simple.

One last qualm...
The sets. The amount of mahogany used in Gray's mansion made me think of a stage. If it was supposed to be realistic, it fell very short.

I can't help but wonder whether i would have liked the movie if i had seen it before i read the book... That i'll never know.