"My Cousin Rachel" based on the Daphne Du Maurier novel, is a satisfyingly traditional murder mystery with a did she or didn't she riddle at its heart and an equally traditional love story thrown-in for good measure.
The "she" in question is of course the Rachel of the title, played by Rachel Weisz, as the recently dispossessed widow of the adored cousin of Philip Ridley, a young man soon to come of age and who by dint of his cousin's failure to leave a will and the archaic law of the time which meant a man's estate must bypass his wife and in the absence of any children go to his nearest male relative, inherits everything.
However a cryptic note from beyond the grave which reaches him casts doubt on the widow's part in the deceased cousin's death and fired up by rage and revenge, young Ridley determines to have it out with her only to fall victim to her older, feminine wiles as a relationship starts to blossom between them. All goes well, until the day she gives him the ultimate coming-of-age birthday gift and then suddenly it seems changes towards him, as he gallantly if impetuously makes her a gift of the estate. Worse yet, he starts to fall ill just like his cousin before him and finally starts listening to the warnings coming from his guardian and his daughter, Louise, the latter of whom is obviously in love with him.
There are a fair number of plot holes to be overlooked if you want to enjoy the film, like the way incriminating beyond-the-grave letters keep turning up from his late cousin, the way that Ridley falls ill just like his cousin did, seemingly after tasting Rachel's very own special brew and why the keen rider that she is couldn't keep her horse away from a not-that-dangerous cliff-edge. Perhaps I'm reading too much into that little glint in the eye of Louise at the end-credit sequence with her now safely married to her man, but I think her possible culpability, however faint, seems a more plausible outcome than Rachel's apparent innocence after the latter leaves such a guilt-ridden trail.
Nicely shot in and around pretty English scenery and country house locations, well acted by Sam Claflin as the besotted young man and Weisz as the femme fatale, so long as you can excuse the various liberally-strewn red-herrings on display this was an entertaining enough, if far-fetched melodrama perhaps more redolent of old-fashioned story-telling movie-making of several decades ago, which I didn't mind at all.
The "she" in question is of course the Rachel of the title, played by Rachel Weisz, as the recently dispossessed widow of the adored cousin of Philip Ridley, a young man soon to come of age and who by dint of his cousin's failure to leave a will and the archaic law of the time which meant a man's estate must bypass his wife and in the absence of any children go to his nearest male relative, inherits everything.
However a cryptic note from beyond the grave which reaches him casts doubt on the widow's part in the deceased cousin's death and fired up by rage and revenge, young Ridley determines to have it out with her only to fall victim to her older, feminine wiles as a relationship starts to blossom between them. All goes well, until the day she gives him the ultimate coming-of-age birthday gift and then suddenly it seems changes towards him, as he gallantly if impetuously makes her a gift of the estate. Worse yet, he starts to fall ill just like his cousin before him and finally starts listening to the warnings coming from his guardian and his daughter, Louise, the latter of whom is obviously in love with him.
There are a fair number of plot holes to be overlooked if you want to enjoy the film, like the way incriminating beyond-the-grave letters keep turning up from his late cousin, the way that Ridley falls ill just like his cousin did, seemingly after tasting Rachel's very own special brew and why the keen rider that she is couldn't keep her horse away from a not-that-dangerous cliff-edge. Perhaps I'm reading too much into that little glint in the eye of Louise at the end-credit sequence with her now safely married to her man, but I think her possible culpability, however faint, seems a more plausible outcome than Rachel's apparent innocence after the latter leaves such a guilt-ridden trail.
Nicely shot in and around pretty English scenery and country house locations, well acted by Sam Claflin as the besotted young man and Weisz as the femme fatale, so long as you can excuse the various liberally-strewn red-herrings on display this was an entertaining enough, if far-fetched melodrama perhaps more redolent of old-fashioned story-telling movie-making of several decades ago, which I didn't mind at all.