Dorian Gray Delivers Few Chills and Even Less Thrills
I had to resist the urge to name this post Snore-ian Gray or Bore-ian Gray, but this film, by any other name, would be as bad. With agonizingly slow pacing, poor dialogue and an utter lack of tension Dorian Gray falls far short of its literary and filmic predecessors. Dorian Gray is the story of a young man who has is portrait taken by artist Basil Howard. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian comes to embrace the “art for art’s sake” aesthetic lifestyle that preaches sensation over morality. When confronted with his beautiful portrait he wishes that he will remain always beautiful while his portrait bears the brunt of time and sin. In Oscar Wilde’s version, Dorian indulges in a life of hidden debauchery causing his portrait to age and decay until Basil discovers Dorian’s secret and Dorian murders him. It ends with a cataclysmic showdown between Dorian and his painted soul. In this film, Ben Barnes strikes a less than compelling caricature of the eternally beautiful you...