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The saddest part of the film was when those expensive strand of pearls were ripped from Rachel's neck by Philip, it sickened me to see them trickling down the stairs, one by one. Horror of horrors! What a disturbing scene! LOL! Sad, sad day. The value of those gorgeous pearls will never be the same, you know, even if they found every pearl. You must know I'm letting my imagination get the best of me. LOL! That aside, I loved this film. I'm giving it a 7 because I felt something was lacking and I can't pinpoint what that is, I'm sorry to say. Even so, the two leads were great. I'm notorious for making comparisons of actors and I'm sure actors hate that but such is the nature of the beast. Rachel Weisz was stunning and convincing; she was perfect as Rachel; Claflin was perfect as the torturous puppy dog, loved starved little boy turned man eventually. We're asked to wonder throughout the movie, did she or didn't she. Here we have Rachel a woman with big appetites; a seductress, a modern day woman with needs; a woman trying to make a way for herself; an independent woman; an opportunist; big spender. But she was a kind, caring woman. She tended the sick, the needy. She believed that herbal teas could heal, so do I. She experimented; most people do. Philip did refer to her as a witch and come to think of it, she could have had a special potion/brew for every kind of situation. One never knows! Nevertheless, care needs to be taken where herbs are concerned because though they can heal they can also be deadly. Rachel whipped a brew for Philip and he asked her to take a sip and she did not. I grew suspicious.Rachel was passionate and felt she owed no one an apology for her way of life. She was who she was. Take it or leave it! Enter young, naive Philip. Such a little boy. When he bit into the buttered biscuit and the butter was dripping from his fingers, she told him to lick them. That was one intense scene between the two and the camera shot on that was pretty neat. I never read the book and maybe that's a good thing but the performance by Claflin and Weisz and the entire cast was outstanding. Bravo to all! I watched this movie twice and came to the decision that this was a better version than the 1950's adaptation, as great as DeHavilland and Burton were. Both Weisz and Claflin nailed their roles to perfection.Seecombe was like a comedy central now and then and to see Philip chuckle from his outbursts was humorous. Claflin, like Timothy Dalton, has perfect diction and I appreciate actors who are blessed with this because you can understand what they are saying without turning up the volume or turn on the close caption. A big, big plus was seeing Iain Glen as Kendall. I loved the actress who played Louise--Holliday Grainger. Lovely, lovely woman!I think Rachel was innocent regardless if I believed in her practices or not. I mean she did lead the young guy on! He never saw a woman cry. Philip never had a woman around other than two female dogs growing up. He didn't read books. He lived off the fat of the land thanks to Ambrose. So, he had a lot to learn and I think Rachel was as patient as she could be with this gullible, inexperienced, young man. And the words, "Rachel, my torment," was used twice in the movie, once by Ambrose's words in a letter and at the conclusion of Philip's narration. Yes, indeed, Rachel was their torment! But no one was more tormented than "I". Oh, what has become of those pearls?
photojess1219
Finally got to watch on TV a couple weeks ago. My mom and I were excited, but we were disappointed in the end. We were hoping for a real thriller. While I love Rachel and Sam, they are great actors, but this wasn't 1 of my favorites from them. It was a bit boring.
jc-osms
"My Cousin Rachel" based on the Daphne Du Maurier 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.
