In what is supposed to be a dry, British high-society drama, A Handful of Dust certainly has an odd beginning. Where does the movie take place, in the jungle or in a beautiful English estate house? Do Kristin Scott Thomas and James Wilby have a happy marriage or are they bored? Unfortunately, I didn't really get any less confused as the movie continued. Kristin has an affair (for no reason I could tell other than boredom) with the poor Rupert Graves and, miraculously, has no clue he's only after her money. You'd think the upper class would have a sixth sense for sniffing out gold diggers. The brokenhearted James gets even more brokenhearted when their young son is killed in a horseback riding accident.
If you're watching this for the story, you're better off with The Age of Innocence. If you're watching it for a young Judi Dench, she has a far more interesting character in A Room with a View. James Wilby and Kristin Scott Thomas both have a host of English sagas to their resumé that you can choose from. Anjelica Huston's only in the movie for about eight minutes, and Alec Guinness doesn't show up until the final seventeen. He is given a funny laugh line, though. He plays an illiterate man living in the jungle who asks James to read to him for entertainment. His suggestion is Little Dorrit, in which he acted the year before!
If you're watching this for the story, you're better off with The Age of Innocence. If you're watching it for a young Judi Dench, she has a far more interesting character in A Room with a View. James Wilby and Kristin Scott Thomas both have a host of English sagas to their resumé that you can choose from. Anjelica Huston's only in the movie for about eight minutes, and Alec Guinness doesn't show up until the final seventeen. He is given a funny laugh line, though. He plays an illiterate man living in the jungle who asks James to read to him for entertainment. His suggestion is Little Dorrit, in which he acted the year before!