rooski85

Jane Eyre (2011)

Can't compare with other versions

I'm very surprised to read the glowing reviews this version of Jane Eyre is receiving. Like other reviewers, Jane Eyre is my absolute favorite book and so I've seen every TV/movie version of it starting with the Orson Welles version. I will agree that the scenery was gorgeous, but other than that, I was pretty disappointed. There's no way to condense this fantastic story into a two-hour movie and do it justice; there's just too much detail and when left out, it makes for a choppy retelling. While watching it, at first I kept "filling in" all the parts that were left out. Then I'd try to watch it as someone who had never read the book, but that left me too confused because of the speed at which the story was told, and the flashback retelling of the story.

Also, this version has Jane becoming an heiress, but what about the fact that St. John and his sisters truly *are* Jane's relatives??? Her generosity to them wasn't just a nice gesture for taking her in when she showed up at their door.

The ending completely irritated me. Jane and Rochester's reunion at the end was a second love story, and it received all of 1-2 minutes before cutting off.

I also agree with other reviewers who didn't see/feel any passion between this Jane and Rochester. While I did like their looks for the parts, their scenes together felt like they were reciting lines, not falling in love with each other. And I didn't see any of the passion in Michael Fassbender that you could see with Timothy Dalton or Toby Stephens. If anything, he made me think that Daniel Day-Lewis would make for an excellent Rochester by bringing more depth to the character.

All in all, I would recommend people to use their money to rent the Timothy Dalton or Toby Stephens version of this story vs. using it to attend this version.