Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

In 1994, Catherine Zeta-Jones sealed her fate to forever play the bad girl. She starred in two television adaptations of very famous novels, Catherine Cookson's The Cinder Path and Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native. In the latter, she plays the bewitching village outcast whose power over men is so great the townspeople think she's a witch. She enjoys toying with their emotions, but soon learns the consequences of her actions.With a large supporting cast of Clive Owen, Steven Mackintosh, Joan Plowright, Celia Imrie, Ray Stevenson, and Claire Skinner, The Return of the Native is a must-see for fans of historical romances. Keep in mind that it comes from a Thomas Hardy novel, so it'll be a little depressing. There's also some strange elements included in the story, like the alleged witchery and the constant red pigment to Steven Mackintosh's skin-which is explained better in the book.It's difficult to hate Catherine because she's so beautiful, and at times during the sad story, you'll even feel sorry for her. She, Ray, Steven, and Joan give great performances, tugging at your heart and making you want more when the movie's over. While this one isn't my favorite sweeping historical drama-Thomas Hardy stories are just too sad for me-it's a very famous one to add to your list if you like that genre.

To celebrate my 1,300th review for IMDb, I turn to a film based on the work of my favourite author. Despite his prominent position in the canon of English literature, Thomas Hardy has never really been a mainstay of the cinema in the way that, say Dickens or (in recent years) Jane Austen have been. Although there have been occasional excellent Hardy adaptations, such as Schlesinger's "Far from the Madding Crowd" or Polanski's "Tess", a number of his novels have never been the subject of a feature film. I am not just talking about his more obscure works such as "Desperate Remedies" or "The Hand of Ethelberta"; there has never been a film based upon a novel as great as "The Mayor of Casterbridge", unless one counts Michael Winterbottom's eccentric "The Claim", which alters the plot considerably and transfers it to the American West. "The Return of the Native" is another great Hardy novel which has never been filmed for the cinema; this TV movie from 1994 is the only film version. The plot is essentially a complex love pentagon. At its heart are two unhappy marriages, those of Damon and Thomasin ("Tamsin") Wildeve and Clement ("Clym") and Eustacia Yeobright. The fifth corner of the pentagon is Diggory Venn, a young man who was a rejected suitor for Thomasin's hand before her marriage. Damon and Eustacia were lovers before their respective marriages, and both cherish the hope that their former intimacy can be rekindled. (Their spouses Clym and Thomasin are cousins). Hardy pays comparatively little attention to the Wildeves' marriage; the simple problem between them is that Damon, an innkeeper by trade, is a handsome scoundrel with a roving eve who finds it impossible to remain faithful to one woman. He analyses the Yeobrights' marriage, however, in greater detail. Clym, the returning native of the title, has been a successful diamond merchant based in Paris. Eustacia is a proud and independent young woman, intelligent if with little formal education, who dreams of seeing the wider world. Her main hope in marrying Clym was that he would return to Paris taking her with him. He, however, has tired of the diamond trade and of the comfortable middle-class life he led in Paris. He believes that he has been called to some higher purpose in life and dreams of opening a local school where he can teach the local children of the remote heathland area in which the story is set. Eustacia hates the heathland, which she sees as bleak and forbidding, so is dismayed to realise that her husband is set upon spending the rest of his life there. It is her discontent, and Damon's faithlessness, which precipitate the story's final tragedy. The settings for Hardy's novels are always significant. The landscape takes on such importance that it almost becomes a character in its own right, and this is particularly true of "The Return of the Native". It is therefore unfortunate that the makers of this film decided to shoot it on Exmoor rather than the Dorset heaths (or "Egdon Heath"as Hardy called them). Geographically the two areas are not too far apart, but the landscapes we see here are more rugged and mountainous than anywhere in Dorset and more conventionally picturesque. I couldn't help feeling that if Eustacia had grown up in the beautiful countryside we see here she would never have wanted to leave. I felt that Claire Skinner was a bit weak as Thomasin (although, to be fair to her, the sweet-natured Thomasin, overshadowed by her rogue of a husband and her more glamorous rival Eustacia, is not the strongest character in the novel). These, however, would be my only criticisms of the film, which is in all other respects a very worthy adaptation of a great novel, and follows its story fairly closely. (There are, however, a few simplifications and alterations of Hardy's plot, notably the manner of Clym's mother's death). The rest of the cast are generally very good, and I was very taken with Ray Stevenson as the decent and idealistic Clym. (I am rather surprised that I have not heard more of him since 1994). The real revelation for me, however- certainly when I first saw the film- was the performance of Catherine Zeta Jones as Eustacia.Apart from Tess, Eustacia is Hardy's greatest heroine, in my view greater even than Bathsheba Everdene. She is by temperament utterly unsuited to her sincere, kindly husband, and brings tragedy on him and on herself through her wild and impetuous behaviour, yet it is impossible for the reader not to feel some sympathy with her in a way in which we do not feel sympathy with, for example, her lover Wildeve. Like Clym, she can see all too clearly the darker side of life on Egdon Heath and the narrowness and ignorance of its denizens, some of whom quite literally still practise witchcraft. Unlike him, she is unable to see the beauty of the area or to envisage any solution to its problems other than escaping from them. In 1994 Catherine Zeta was a striking young newcomer, strikingly and exotically beautiful, but generally regarded as most at home in light comedies like the "Darling Buds of May" television series in which she first made her name. "The Return of the Native" was her first chance to prove herself as a tragic actress, and she rose brilliantly to the challenge of playing this challenging role. She has, of course, gone on to become a major international star, although I have sometimes thought that Hollywood has used her too much as a comedienne and action heroine and has not done enough to find similarly demanding parts for her. This still remains my favourite of all her films. 8/10

I gave it an 8 out of 10 primarily for the fact that it had a lot to live up to and on the whole did it well.**WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD**So here are the good bits: The cast were superb. I couldn't have cast anyone better myself than Catherine Zeta Jones for Eustacia Vye, she fitted the role perfectly. Damon Wildeve and Clym Yeobright I also felt were very successful at living up to Hardy's original characters, and the rest of the cast were equally good. Most of the first hour was good, though a lot of the lines were completely created and not taken from the original text, it did stick to the original book quite sufficiently. It included the mummer's play which I felt certain they'd leave out, and the gypsying event that Eustacia attends was done very well. Also, Clym and Eustascia's courting was done nicely. Now for the negatives: Up until Mrs Yeobright's death I quite liked it. Even though Wildeve's and Thomasin's wedding was completely messed up (Clym shouldn't have been there, Eustacia should have given Thomasin away - which I would have like to have seen, Susan Nunsuch shouldn't have stabbed Eustacia then etc) and Clym and Eustacia's meeting wasn't true to Hardy (there was no bucket incident I'm afraid)it was still overall good. Then Mrs Yeobright died - OF A HEART ATTACK!!!! When did Mrs Yeobright die of a heart attack???? I felt that it was an important detail that she died from exhaustion and was stung by an adder - as by using the adder fat to rub on the wound, Clym - the modern man - was shown reverting back to old, superstitions and remedies. But no...it was from a heart attack. And It wasn't just little Johnny who was there to witness it...it was the whole of the heath! This definitely lost dramatic impact as the climatic line when Johnny burst into the abandoned mud hut "she told me to tell you I'd seen the face of a broken hearted woman cast off by her son" was really underplayed. And then after this it all went down hill. Clym didn't rave and whine, and wasn't seen as pathetic. We didn't grow distant from him as we do in the book, and our sympathies weren't entirely with Eustacia as they should have been. Eustacia and Clym's relationship didn't show a dramatic decline, and so when Eustacia left, it seemed a bit melodramatic as they weren't really arguing at all. Thomasin never gave birth to little Eustacia, a poignant irony disappointingly left out (and whilst I remember there was no such issue with money - no guineas, no inheritance for Wildeve -not even any gambling and glow worms.) And the ending just took the biscuit. In the book I cried when Eustacia and Wildeve died, no I didn't, I literally sobbed! When watching this I was nearly reduced to laughing it was just so bad! The whole stormy heath scene was terrible! Eustacia had no soliloquy ("I have been blighted and injured and crushed by things beyond my control!…) so it wasn't such a loss when she died and Wildeve's lyrical line "O! My darling!" was excluded so his tragic hero image was completely absent. There was no build up, no climax, nothing. I felt really disappointed by this point. And just when I thought the ending couldn't possibly get any worse, along comes Eustacias ghost! Cue me dieing myself! Unfortunately very cheaply done, it possessed no sentimental value and on the whole was just quite hilarious - a future note for director Jack Gold, don't use that one again.Thankfully though it missed most of book six - After courses out…which to be perfectly honest is a dreadful read!So it sounds like I hated it…just to make clear I didn't hate the whole of it just the ending. Perhaps in future I'll stop it before Mrs Yeobright dies.

I saw this Hallmark television movie when it originally aired. I lost interest in the story because a character was said to be a witch. I just was not in the right frame of mind to watch this film. But Hallmark stands for the best, quality films. Now, there is a reason to give this film a second look. Clive Owen who plays "Damon Wildeve" just might have a chance to be selected as the next James Bond 007 when Pierce Brosnan passes it on. Clive Owen might have to wait until the year 2008. The other reason is the female lead is Catherine Zeta-Jones is now a celebrity (she was an unknown at the time) and became an Academy Award winner for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2003. Joan Plowright as "Mrs. Yeobright" is also in this film. I like the opening line in this film: "Deliver my heart from this fearful, lonely place. Send me a great love from somewhere or else I shall die, truly I shall die."