This film 'grows' on you...

"The constant foggy weather seemed a bit of a stretch of reality at first, but then again this film does take place in a short time and rainy weather can indeed stretch for weeks even!"

That was one of the bits I liked about the movie other than the story, I liked the cold feeling it gives ya and i don't mean that literally. I also liked the shades of grey and black and anything else that was dark in that movie colour wise, I liked the gothic feel of it.

:) 6 years past since your post, but I have just re-watched the movie, and now going through the boards.

I first came upon it by accident - found it on the Julia Roberts collection DVD, didn't even know it was about Dr. Jekyll.

I remember finding Julia's performance quite odd - not because of the accent (I used to watch the version dubbed in Russian until today), but because she was so unlike herself in her other movies. She looks different - pretty at times, but not striking in any way. And she acts differently - she is too quiet and timid, which, again, is in a great contrast with other parts by Roberts.

BUT I was completely in awe with Malkovich in this movie. I had seen him only in Con Air prior to this, and to put it mildly, his character is not very appealing in that movie, and comes as a smart, but evil, ugly-looking monster. But here - can I just say that I actually developed a crush on him by the end of the movie, because of his performance as Dr. Jekyll? Yes, Jekyll and Hyde looked too much alike. Yes, Hyde acted weird in many ways. But you couldn't actually think of them as the same person, just as I couldn't believe that it was the same actor who played Jekyll and Sirus-Virus in Con Air.

About your little "complaints": I have spent half a year in Edinburgh (where the story takes place) and I can confirm that a weather like that is quite believable here over the late autumn/winter months. It's May now, and the "rainy period" is often broken with sunny days, but that is something unusual for Edinburgh, rather than a standard. :P

Watching it in English, I did notice Julia's accent problems, but I was actually relieved that she didn't manage to keep it up throughout the movie - I found it quite unpleasant to listen to in the beginning :D

Finally, the rat. Well, if you think she could try to kill it, you mustn't know much about what a phobia is like. Remember, she says that she "couldn't bring herself to even think of it (the rat)". I have an arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and unless it is a microscopic spider (where I can't see its 8 legs clearly), I find myself completely paralyzed with fear in its presence. I can eventually bring myself to kill it, if I absolutely have to (e.g. if it is hanging from the ceiling over my bed...) and I have no one else to call for help, but it usually takes me up to an hour of "preparation", such as making sure to cover myself, so that it doesn't touch me by accident; finding a long stick, so that I maintain as much of a distance as possible, etc. and finally coming up with enough courage to do it. And that is if it is not too big. Now, imagine it is as big and "alive" as a rat. And you are in a confined space with it. I am surprised she didn't go insane. I am pretty sure I would.

And sorry for a long post.