It's particularly disappointing to watch a film "based on a true story," an interesting one at that, and suspect that what's on the screen must pale in comparison to what really happened.
That nagging frustration overshadows Summer in February, a ceaselessly bland take on the famed Lamorna artists' colony in Cornwall, circa 1911.
The problems began in casting: As a love-torn trio, Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning, and Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens muster about as much charisma between them as that of the dour English countryside their characters inhabit. Florence Carter-Wood (Browning), an aspiring painter, arrives at the colony and is immediately introduced to fellow painter and show-off Alfred Munnings (Cooper) and his best friend, Captain Gilbert Evans (St...
That nagging frustration overshadows Summer in February, a ceaselessly bland take on the famed Lamorna artists' colony in Cornwall, circa 1911.
The problems began in casting: As a love-torn trio, Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning, and Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens muster about as much charisma between them as that of the dour English countryside their characters inhabit. Florence Carter-Wood (Browning), an aspiring painter, arrives at the colony and is immediately introduced to fellow painter and show-off Alfred Munnings (Cooper) and his best friend, Captain Gilbert Evans (St...
- 1/15/2014
- Village Voice
Summer Bummer: Menaul’s Love Triangle Inspires Opposite Emotions
Not every “based on a true story” is actually fit for a feature length film. In fact, most of these stories are embellished beyond recognition to sustain narrative integrity and audience interest. Not so with Christopher Menaul’s latest, Summer In February, which seems to convey that, if anything, love is a mainly belabored thing. Spending nearly his entire career working in television, this adaptation of a novel by Jonathan Smith, which recounts the lives of several real life historical figures, is structured like an ungainly corset, wound up all tight and stuffy and begging for a commercial break to exhale.
In 1913 Cornwall, we meet a group of young artists that have gathered there to work in what was widely regarded as a free thinking sanctuary. The loudmouthed and cocky A.J. Munnings (Dominic Cooper) is the dashing painter championed as...
Not every “based on a true story” is actually fit for a feature length film. In fact, most of these stories are embellished beyond recognition to sustain narrative integrity and audience interest. Not so with Christopher Menaul’s latest, Summer In February, which seems to convey that, if anything, love is a mainly belabored thing. Spending nearly his entire career working in television, this adaptation of a novel by Jonathan Smith, which recounts the lives of several real life historical figures, is structured like an ungainly corset, wound up all tight and stuffy and begging for a commercial break to exhale.
In 1913 Cornwall, we meet a group of young artists that have gathered there to work in what was widely regarded as a free thinking sanctuary. The loudmouthed and cocky A.J. Munnings (Dominic Cooper) is the dashing painter championed as...
- 1/14/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
If you’re missing Cousin Matthew or Downton Abbey in general, you’re in luck: Dan Stevens is going back to pre-war England for the romance Summer in February. Tribeca Films plans to release the film on VOD on Jan. 7, just two days after a Matthew-less Downton premieres in the states.
The film tells the true story of Sir Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper), who rises from his working class roots to become one of Britain’s best painters. During his ascent, he also attracts the attention of the upper class Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning), creating a tragic love triangle...
The film tells the true story of Sir Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper), who rises from his working class roots to become one of Britain’s best painters. During his ascent, he also attracts the attention of the upper class Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning), creating a tragic love triangle...
- 11/22/2013
- by Lindsey Bahr
- EW - Inside Movies
★★★☆☆ Equestrian artist Alfred Munnings' love affair and disastrous marriage to aspiring painter Florence Carter-Wood is the subject of Christopher Menaul's involving costume drama Summer in February (2013). It's 1912 and Munnings (Dominic Cooper) is a prominent member of the bohemian Lamorna Group, a colony of artists living and practising their craft in Cornwall. Fleeing London, an oppressive father and an unwanted suitor, Florence (Emily Browning) joins her brother here. Her fragile beauty and sensitive nature consequently attract the attention of local land agent and army officer Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens).
A prolific painter, Munnings is much admired by others in the colony, including acclaimed artists, Laura (Hattie Morahan) and Harold Knight (Shaun Dingwall). Munnings can have any woman he desires but is also drawn to Florence. She models for him and before long he is proposing marriage. Florence accepts but the couple discover, too late, that their hasty courtship obscures a multitude of differences.
A prolific painter, Munnings is much admired by others in the colony, including acclaimed artists, Laura (Hattie Morahan) and Harold Knight (Shaun Dingwall). Munnings can have any woman he desires but is also drawn to Florence. She models for him and before long he is proposing marriage. Florence accepts but the couple discover, too late, that their hasty courtship obscures a multitude of differences.
- 10/15/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Liberace's glitter is only slightly dimmed by DVD, while Mubi's curatorial brand of streaming is a treat for cinephiles
In Europe, Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra (Entertainment One, 15) premiered in the rarefied glow of the Cannes film festival. In the Us it did so on the glowing screens of a million living rooms, courtesy of risk-taking TV producer HBO. Technically, then, we're finally seeing it in its intended format, though this marvellous, diamond-iced biopic of Mr Entertainment himself – Vegas concert pianist Liberace – seems conceived for the largest screen possible. (I doubt the master of excess would approve of this rather sparse Blu-ray package, which includes only a Soderbergh-free making-of featurette.)
The small screen may dull the rhinestones, but not the grace notes of Michael Douglas's witty, desolate lead turn. Fortysomething Matt Damon, meanwhile, is improbably vulnerable as Scott Thorson, the teen toyboy inappropriately adopted by the closeted...
In Europe, Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra (Entertainment One, 15) premiered in the rarefied glow of the Cannes film festival. In the Us it did so on the glowing screens of a million living rooms, courtesy of risk-taking TV producer HBO. Technically, then, we're finally seeing it in its intended format, though this marvellous, diamond-iced biopic of Mr Entertainment himself – Vegas concert pianist Liberace – seems conceived for the largest screen possible. (I doubt the master of excess would approve of this rather sparse Blu-ray package, which includes only a Soderbergh-free making-of featurette.)
The small screen may dull the rhinestones, but not the grace notes of Michael Douglas's witty, desolate lead turn. Fortysomething Matt Damon, meanwhile, is improbably vulnerable as Scott Thorson, the teen toyboy inappropriately adopted by the closeted...
- 10/12/2013
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
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