A promising cast wasted by a terrible script

I had such high hopes for this adaptation, which had one of the best casts I've seen in a long time. Morton and Hinds seemed like the perfect casting of the two leads - at last a Rochester who really is stern, brash and bad tempered, not to mention dark and 'vulcan-like' rather than conventionally handsome. And Morton does plain and composed very well, while still managing to unleash a mocking smile or that fiery indignation quite convincingly.

But the script was just awful. It's one thing to cut it down for length, but it was stripped of it's heart and soul. Hardly anything remained of Bronte's prose in the dialogue, which had seemingly been dumbed down for modern audiences, and the whole story felt rushed. The relationship that subtly builds between them in the book was also made far too obvious, with Jane monologuing about how much she loved him almost the moment she met him, while Rochester's feelings were made as plain as the rather prominent nose on his face. That took all the tension out of his little ruse, because it was obvious he was never going to send her away, and the reveal of his feelings was rather a damp squib.

I think to do the source material full justice you really need a 4 hour mini series, which is why the 1983 BBC adaptation is still my favourite. Although Zelah Clarke is not my favourite Jane, Timothy Dalton is by far the best Rochester I've ever seen, and the script was so faithful to the original, I couldn't fault the storytelling or the dialogue. That faithfulness may make it seem a little dated now, but I think that immerses you in the period, creating the same feeling you get from reading the book, rather than just watching a modern love story in period costume.

But I will say, this version was still better than the totally lacklustre William Hurt version.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."