Film Review: 'Dorian Gray' (2009)

Directed by: Oliver Parker and Written by: Toby Finlay(screenplay)
Review by: Sweetreviewer
Released: September 2009

Oliver Parker’s adaptation of the novel ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ by: Oscar Wilde is merely about a life lesson that we all have heard about someone that desires the unattainable eternal youth “but at what cost?” It also asks “what are the consequences of desiring the unattainable?”

Ben Barnes stars as Dorian Gray. He seems like a naive individual; young, handsome and just came into money due to the recent death of his uncle. He slowly starts having these hallucinations of when he was a child and his uncle being cruel towards him. As Dorian meets a young girl and falls in “love” Lord Henry Wotton ‘Colin Firth’ an old family friend drives him to cruelty, corruption and vanity. It all occurs when Dorian gets a portrait painted of him, and he sells his soul without even noticing. As Dorian becomes crueler and less naïve of his circumstances his portrait turns old while it appears that Dorian is staying young forever as everyone around him is aging.
This film wasn’t really that bad but it lacked somewhat of a little genuine realism near the end.Sure, there's a couple kills here and there, but there’s really not much happening besides the random orgies; Dorian's hint at homosexuality and the aged disgusting portrait that we have led to anticipate near the end wasn’t worth all the hype.I'm sure readers of the novel might find this film dissapointing.  Barnes does a great job however in portraying his two characters, the naïve man and the sinister side of Dorian. This might deserve a one time watch.