Dreaming of Joseph Lees (1999) Reviews

• Moving - And Exasperating

  HarlowMGM2006-02-27

  DREAMING OF Joseph LEES is one of the most romantic pictures of recent years but it is seriously marred by a pretentious streak, improbable character actions, and a artsy ambiguous ending that is a cheat. Samantha Morton gives an excellent performance but Eva is such an incredibly plain heroine that it's odd why two quite handsome (one of them, Rupert, extraordinarily handsome) men would be obsessed with this little church mouse. Set in 1958 rural England, Eva has long mooned over a distant cousin, Joseph Lees, who unlike the rest of her relatives has gone off to see the world and is interested in "books and things". Eva is pursued by a local pig farmer Harry who longs to be a prizefighter and longs to bed Eva. Having not hear anything about Joseph in years, Eva decides to slide into a relationship with the persistent Harry, only to have Joseph suddenly reappear and for the dark side of Harry's obsession to be revealed. I found the screenwriter's sympathy with Harry downright offensive given his truly dangerous personality. When Eva, upset with his barking dogs, tells him to "get rid of them", he does - he shoots them!! Later he goes and self-mutilates himself ( thinking perhaps Eva's emotional tie to Joseph was sympathy based?) - this is some scary sh*t and yet the screenwriter treats it all like, poor thing he really loves her and its tearing him apart. I realize this is set in the late 1950's (though you would never know it from some of the clothes and hairstyles) but even then women had more options that just feeling obligated for life to the person who deflowered them. That everybody was so sympathetic to Harry for all the emotional BS he put Eva through was just bizarre to me. The ending leaves it up in the air what will be Eva's final decision - Harry or Joseph - it's an artsy twist that the producers should have demanded be rewritten. There is a slight hint she will go with Joseph (her sister's smile) but it's certainly not clear what her final decision will be. Had the producers brought in someone to rewrite the script they may have had themselves a major hit instead of what it is, a obscure little film not seen by many and one of the very few from recent years that has never been released on DVD. The performances are excellent though - the young actress playing the little sister is really good and the ever dashing Rupert Graves proves once again he is one of the best actors in films today. But let's face it - if a woman has to choose between Rupert Graves or somebody else, unless that woman is mentally unbalanced herself, "somebody else" hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell.

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• Insanely Beautiful Movie

  gzerna2003-12-11

  Luminous acting, plus painterly cinematography, plus expert musical scoring, equals heavenly cinema. Woody Allen cast Samantha Morton as the mute co-star to Sean Penn in `Sweet and Low Down' (remember the girl who never said a word, but spoke volumes?). After seeing her in this film, I don't think she even needed to audition. This film is especially for those who know that movies which are described by some as `about nothing' are usually the ones that are really about everything-everything that really matters. An intense and unforgettable journey for anyone with an emotional life.

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• underrated...

  zooey2000-07-31

  Sepia-toned, understated, Hardyesque - Dreaming of Joseph Lees is one of those rare, quiet films that hits with brute force. Its only serious fault is in a too-slim characterization of Harry - his desperation could and should have been a little more fleshed out. We're only given glimpses into the reasons behind his crippling dependency on Eva. Apparently lots of folks feel that Joseph Lees suffers from a similar near-transparency, but his character is what it must be - he has always been a romanticized ideal for Eva. And his fleshing out in her eyes, is present, but also patient, as it must be. Near the end of the film, Morton turns in some of the best acting I've seen in years in a scene in which her Eva finds herself just inside the front door, literally caught between Harry (further inside the house) and Joseph (just outside the door). Rarely has heartbreak ever been so beautifully rendered in a performance as it is here. It's a crying shame that this film has yet to find its audience.

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• Unforgettable

  joyincmajor2001-07-07

  Out of curiosity, I picked up this movie at a video store, and was very pleasantly surprised. Samantha Morton is exquisite and believeable as Eva, a quiet girl who harbors a deep love for Joseph Lees, a geologist and distant relative. I had never heard of Rupert Graves before but he too was tremendous as a lonely man with a personal sorrow. The supporting cast was top-notch. This is a movie that I have seen several times and will certainly rent it again in the future. It is unforgettable.

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• A beautiful, evocative film. Morton shines.

  lstein-22000-11-29

  Another transcendent performance from Samantha Morton (she was also the female lead in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown"). This is a truly lovely film, "small" in the sense that only a few characters and their lives are affected by the love triangle, but "large" in the sense that it will strike a familiar chord for many viewers. Morton's face seems to show every thought or feeling that passes through her. Eva (Morton) experiences both ends of an obsessive love relationship. She has been dreaming of her glamorous-seeming second cousin Joseph Lees (Rupert Graves in a fine performance) since a girlhood visit. A neighboring young pig farmer (Lee Ross)adores Eva; his attentions are charming but uninvited. I had truly never heard of this film when it came on TV late one night - and was delighted that I stayed up late to see it through to the end. I recommend you seek it out to do the same. Beautiful cinematography in a quiet film, written and directed with a restrained, well-modulated hand.

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