Brideshead Revisited is lush, rich, slightly decadent, and oddly unsatisfying when compared to last year's Atonement, the original early 80's BBC miniseries, or of course the book itself, one of my favorites. Still, it's a visually arresting film and Emma Thompson is not just wonderful, she actually saves the film and gives it the gravitas it would have lacked had another actress been cast as the matriarch. Brideshead has always had the underserved reputation of being a "gay" book, akin in some way to Maurice. It is not. Waugh's novel is about the British class system and the eternal Catholic vs. Protestant religious war that permeates all things in England. The Brideshead clan is unrepentantly Catholic, and its matriarch is extremely devout. When middle-class and possibly bisexual Charles meets the very gay Sebastian at Oxford, they form a friendship that leads to an invite to the family estate. Once mildly taken with Sebastian, Charles quickly falls for his sister Julia, which sends Sebastian into a downward spiral from which he never recovers. Charles is an athiest and thus unsuitable for Julia, so to prevent any further problems, Mamma tosses Charles from their lives. After the war, they meet again, and both are married and divorced, but with clearer heads, can they make it work? It sounds simple, but Waugh's story is complex and the problem is that Jarrold fails to condense the story effectively. If anything, Jarrold proves that some novels just aren't suitable for a quick two-hour treatment. The film is good, but not great, and for those who enjoy it, check out the book and then watch the original miniseries. It made Jeremy Irons a star. (3.5 stars)

First scene from the TV Series