HarlowMGM 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.

Katherine Howard I thought this was an exceptionally well-directed, superbly-acted movie with a winding (albeit erotic!) plot . . . but a terrible, "didn't see it coming" end. The end was abrupt and totally out of place. At the very least, the "cuckoo" suggested in the title should've died off and the story should've then ended with Eva and her lover boy staring off into the sunset togetherWithout yielding spoilers, I will also say pish posh to all the hogwash about how it should have been an easy choice for her to abandon her "dreamer" boy and stay with the "one that loved her." The one that loved her did not love her, folks--he was a sick, depraved, mentally-ill soul who could not love properly, treat her properly, nor ever perceive her properly. He could not even relate properly to the real world let alone truly "love" Eva. He was a twisted, childish narcissist incapable of rendering her a suitable existence--unlike his dashing and mentally-sound rival. I wouldn't have even done for Harry what she did after the crazed stunt he pulled toward the movie's end--I would have left him to the State and not allowed him to manipulate me through his own self-destructive threats or actions like he did Eva. And then I would have happily sailed off with Joseph without batting an eye. Somehow in the movie she was made to bear the guilt and responsibility of every errant thought, motive, or action of Harry, and I don't think that was fair or deserving.Despite the "too many unanswered questions" ending, the movie--though a bit predictable--draws one in and holds him to the end with an eerie blend of nostalgia, sweet sentamentalism, erotic interest, and blimey--that strange, unusual, and tentacular "twist" so prevalent in English films (where they almost twist away from the norm or conventional a bit . . . but then, is that just the English?) The film is definitely worth its time.

Graham Hughes Plotless, pointless, tediously dull and lifeless. This film is a serious contender for the worst film that Britain has ever made. It is therefore no surprise to see Samantha Morton, the actress in the equally dreadful Brit-flick Under the Skin (1997), takes the leading role. Whereas dreadful Hollywood fodder like Showgirls, Battlefield Earth and Wild Wild West have some (although not many) redeeming features, Joseph Lees has none. It's not even fun to watch as a bad film. It starts off awful and then declines from there. It's the celluloid equivalent of Japanese water torture.Why is it so bad? Well, it is the sum of its parts. The direction is pedestrian, the acting is rotten, the script is dull, the story is predictable, the setting is miserable and all the characters do is mope around for two hours looking depressed. However, it is the sheer pointlessness of it all that deals the crushing blow. There is nobody to root for, nobody you can equate to, nobody to really care about. There is no humour, no emotion, no life, no empathy and nothing to make you want to watch it to the end.Imagine sitting for in an empty bar being spoken at by somebody incredibly boring and utterly unlikeable about something you do not care about. They talk in a dull, monotone voice, and after two painfully slow hours, they get up mid-sentence and leave without saying goodbye, even though you had the decency to sit there a waste a couple of hours of your life listening to their inane little tale.It would be more enjoyable to sit through all eight hours of Andy Warhol's lesson in pointless film-making, Empire, without a toilet break. Why the producers saw fit to spend the limited resources of the British film industry to make a godawful film that nobody would want to see boggles the mind. The only use for this film would be to show film students in a 'How Not To Make Movies' class. Avoid at all costs.

Gandalf-64 When I go to the movie (having an 8 weeks unlimited movies pass) I usually have to plan. I can't be out too late, because I have to get home by bus. But I still would want to watch two movies, if possible. Yesterday the possibility was there in taking "Dreaming of Joseph Lees" as a second movie. I had to run from one screen to the other to be in time, but I managed. entering the screen that played "Dreaming of Joseph Lees", I had the whole cinema to myself. Then having watched the movie I wondered why that was and why the average is only 4.9 for this movie. I am almost giving double figures for this movie.Some reasons maybe: - It is about very common people. - It is not sensational at all. No real violence, no real sex, etc. - Too much complex psychology. - It is too British. - The story is too simple.The story is about a woman who by her own acting runs into the dilemma of the feeling of responsibility for Harry (with whom she lives together for a while), a psychopathically jealous partner, even jealous of a book that Eva is reading, and her love from childhood Joseph Lees, who in an explosion loses a leg. Samantha Morton (never heard of her before) plays Eva brilliantly and Lee Ross does a very good job on the complex character of Harry, the farmer. Then there is Janie, sister of Eva and only wanting her sister to be happy. And Eva doesn't really see until the end, but she is happiest with Joseph Lees, who enters her life again at a wedding.The end of the movie: Get your handkerchiefs out for a brilliant climax.... My feelings went from "I don't know what kind of a movie this is going to be, probably not a very good one" (4.9 average) to "What a beautiful movie". It is a shame that so few people seem to appreciate this movie....And the cinema streamed empty...I was going home.