Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Mary Reilly Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 6, 2017

Mary Reilly tells the story of a housemaid, played by Julia Roberts, who finds herself caught in the middle of Dr. Jekyll's (John Malkovich) transformation into Mr. Hyde. The film aims to create a gothic, moody atmosphere in support of inward turmoil meeting its outward manifestations. The film is gloomy, bleak, deals in depraved acts of violence and disgust, and attempts to make sense of the human condition through its somber structure. It works in a way, to a point. The film, much like the namesake of the Robert Louis Stevenson book on which it is based, is classic "Jekyll and Hyde," on one hand quite adept at driving its narrative and supporting its story with keyed-in storytelling and visual craftsmanship, but on the other it's a terribly bloated, often slow, and waywardly acted bit of melodrama that fails to captivate or reinforce the better qualities these are charged with enhancing. The movie makes for a frustrating watch, a moody, immersive, and deep character study on one hand and a lethargic and often comically performed flatline of a film on the other.

Mary Reilly is a shy, introverted, quiet housemaid whose life is dedicated to the thankless service of others. She's invisible, but one day, her employer, Dr. Jekyll, takes an interest in her, or at least the scars she bears all over her body. He pokes and prods, hoping for the housemaid to open up about her past, to tell him the tales of how and why the scars have become a part of her life. She finally relents, revealing childhood abuse at the hands of her father. Jekyll, fascinated by her story, keeps her close. One day, he announces the arrival of a co-worker, Mr. Hyde (John Malkovich). Gradually, Mary comes to learn the dark secrets that lurk about Hyde's being and his true connection to Dr. Jekyll.

Of the positive qualities Mary Reilly brings to the table, perspective is perhaps its most critical. The film is seen through Mary's eyes, eyes which belong to a downtrodden person merely living out her existence with little purpose or aim. She often leaves her eyes gazing downward, understanding of her place and unable, and perhaps unwilling, to effort to rise above. Eventually, she bears witness and becomes close to something fantastic yet horrifying. At the same time, she finds herself in a position she has never been in before, that of someone who is wanted, someone who is needed. With Jekyll and Hyde, she becomes more than she has been or ever will be. But it's her dark past, the scars she bears outwardly and inwardly, that draw the men to her. She is completely a product of her circumstances, unlike Jekyll who has used science, not the scars of his life, to become something else. The film cannot find the same emotional complexities and dramatic nuance that the book so capably captures, but it works hard to do so nevertheless, offering shot after shot, scene after scene, sequence after sequence that whittle away at the façades and try to dig deeply into the characters beyond the broad-stroke qualities that define them.

Unfortunately, the film is severely limited by a pair of miscast and underperforming leads who, try as they might to bring the necessary subtleties and commands of character, circumstance, and purpose to their parts, appear too caught up in the overreaching externalities to grasp and reveal the intricacies that should finely hone them. Julia Roberts slugs her way through a career-bottom performance in the title role, too caught up in working her unconvincing accent and relying an empty gaze towards the floor to shape her character rather than dig deeply to better understand the emotional upheaval that's behind her blank stare and that resurfaces as her relationship with Jekyll and Hyde grows. The part should have been a transformative one for Roberts, not only removing her from her glamorous comfort zone but also forcing her to explore the sorts of deeply held pains her character carried with her and the urgency and immediacy of her current place in life as it's shaped by the company she keeps. Roberts previously dealt with dark emotions and past pains in Flatliners, albeit as one of several in an ensemble rather than carrying a film as she must here, but whether by her performance or a vacuous script -- likely parts of both -- she cannot muster the sort of tangible depth the part demands to make the movie work. Malkovich, another actor more than capable of delivering a first-rate performance, additionally struggles, never escaping a dull monotone and failing to command both of his characters in a way that shapes them beyond the crude maneuverings and line recitals that coldly define them but don't truly breathe life into them.

Mary Reilly Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Murky, bland movie, murky, bland Blu-ray. Mary Reilly isn't a looker in the traditional sense, and any Blu-ray release isn't going to make it into something it isn't, but Mill Creek's 1080p MPEG-4 transfer certainly doesn't help the movie's cause. Wobble and some color bleeding are evident on the opening titles. Heavy debris accompanies the beginning as well, and while the latter remains -- even presenting as the occasional static white spot -- the image at least cleans up adequately thereafter. Details are never exciting. The image is flat, textural nuance is largely absent, and only general image definition is present, boosted largely by the 1080p resolution rather than the inherent clarity of its film source. Still, a modest filmic veneer is evident in some of the more brightly lit scenes, but don't expect significant sharpness or more than adequate stability in most any scene. Colors are a bit bland, but some warm woods, more colorful attire, blood, Reilly's hair, and a few other sources beyond the film's drab and earthy appearance are sufficiently saturated. Black levels are't pristine but nor are they consequentially flawed. Ditto flesh tones. Grain is unreliable and clumpy. This is certainly watchable and not often too terribly offensive, but there is much room for improvement.

Mary Reilly Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mary Reilly's LPCM 2.0 uncompressed soundtrack gets the job done without any flair or flavor. The film's soundtrack has little of interest to offer, anyway. It's primarily composed of music and scattered support sound effects. Music at least finds a fair sense of space about the front half of the stage. While clarity and nuance are never strong points, baseline definition, separation, and push to the outer edges at least compensate for the lack of lifelike transparency. Mild atmospheric effects in various outdoor shots, which are of course limited to the front half of the stage, at least throw the listener a sonic bone to improve the general sense of space and place. A few key, heavier elements, such as some crashes during as struggle near film's end, present with adequate, but hardly revelatory, weight and prominence. Dialogue images nicely enough to the center with little sense of stray. Clarity and prioritization are fine.

Mary Reilly Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Mary Reilly contains no supplemental content.

Mary Reilly Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mary Reilly was reportedly besieged by problems on the set that no doubt contributed to the film's blank-stare performances and sluggish structure. The film certainly shows flashes of what could have been; Writer Christopher Hampton and Director Stephen Frears have put together a stable and enticing foundation, based, of course, on Stevenson's original classic novel. Fans who wish to wade through the problems will discover a curiosity of a picture that boasts an all-star cast but, like the sports team assembled of nothing more than high-dollar free agents, talent means little if there's no commitment or chemistry. Mill Creek's Blu-ray delivers passable but in no way noteworthy picture and sound. The disc is unsurprisingly absent any special features. Worth a rental for the curiously inclined.