We saw the 229 minute 3 episode DVD version and it was very difficult to find a single character you could sympathize with. The performances are uniformly excellent but it is hard to identify with almost any of them. Richard Johnson is superb as the older Gerald Middleton as he carries the main burden and emerges the least despicable of all the cast. Standout performances are given by Douglan Hodge as the younger Gerald, Tara Fitzgerald as the younger Dolly and especially Elizabeth Spriggs as poor Gerald's irritating and overbearing wife. Many of the characters are homosexuals and they are portrayed as an extremely motley group that will cause many in the audience to cringe at their antics. Daniel Craig and Kate Winslet are mention on the DVD jacket, I suspect mainly because of their current prominence. However, they have minor roles especially Ms. Winslet whose brief appearance as a chubby young lady gives little hint to her future talent. My wife commented throughout, "What a bunch of sleaze-buckets." Though an attempt was made to neatly tidy up the story at the end with Gerald reuniting with the elder Dolly, impressively played be Dorothy Tutin and showing his wife with two of their dysfunctional children. We don't know the fate of the remaining son Robin and his wife? Fine performances are marred by a parade of sorry misfits that do not make for an entertaining evening of viewing.
Review of Anglo Saxon Attitudes
