In an attempt to save the farm she did her best to save, Everdeen, a young attractive and smart girl, who rejects all the marriage proposals she receives, in order to save her lifestyle and independence .
It's really hard to fathom that Denmark's Thomas Vinterberg, co-founder of the radical Dogme 95 Movement with Lars Van Trier, could direct a picture so straight-laced and traditional, so bland and dull.
Far From the Madding Crowd feels like a missed opportunity more than anything else, as instead of playing to the strengths of both author and director [...] it coasts on playing to the conventions of the same old stale period dramas.
Moviegoers often say, "Forget about the book, even if it's a 'classic.' How does the film work on its own terms?" But that's the point: On its own terms, it's bewildering.
There is plenty of desire on display here, conveyed in the tremble of the lip or in the intensity of the gaze, or in the deeply saturated colours of a hayfield.
Carey Mulligan is an inspired choice to play Bathsheba... She's cool and confident; we come to respect her strength and appreciate that she doesn't need a man to be complete.
Madding Crowd would be a lot more effective if Mulligan's feminism didn't disappear to create plot points. But it is suitably well-acted and hits you right in the romance bone.
Such an inflexible adaptation results in a rather half-hearted screenplay that lacks the energy of its source novel, failing to arouse or thrill on any level.
The movie places the swoonier love story aspects of Far From the Madding Crowd in the forefront, but it also, more interestingly, surfaces its coming-of-age qualities.
