Dorian Gray (15) *** Sunday Mercury
Dorian Gray (15) ***Sep 13 2009 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury
SEVEN years ago, Oliver Parker directed Colin Firth in his customization of the Oscar Wilde comedy The Importance Of Being Earnest.
Now he’s at it again, casting Firth in another Wilde outstanding – though anyone expecting the same fast-paced, light, fluffy and funny concoction will be in for a scare.
Wilde’s novel The Picture Of Dorian Gray is a very different kettle of fish from Keen, or indeed Parker’s other Wilde film, An Ideal Husband.
The 15 certificate gives a answer to the fact this is a dark gothic horror, moodily shot and full of sex scenes and brutal killings. And while there are prodigality of acerbic Wilde one-liners, mainly delivered by Firth, the humour is in fairly scarce supply.
Firth plays Lord Henry Wootton, a hedonist who befriends a new advent in Victorian London – naive orphan Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes), who has inherited his grandfather’s mansion.
