Lisa Rossario

As a long time Henry James enthusiast, I was excited to see the movie. Unfortunately Jonathon Rhys Meyers was cast as the main character. Don’t get me wrong, he is great in The Tudors, but as an American speaker he is not suited. The British and Irish accented actors who portray Americans are usually not en pointe. The American accent is faster and less clipped, in a sense. There are plenty of British that speak quickly, but it is not the same, and difficult to copy. Meyers sounds ....we’ll British: he asks Joely Richardson: “you are English are you not?” ———-No ‘‘tis not American I fear! (Lol) even though this is 19th c and American spoke in a more proper way, it still sounds wrong. Some parts are written very British and then some sound mockingly American (Too slow with accent on wrong word parts)....This drove me nuts. Redgrave and Richardson were superb and I was greatly saddened by this depiction. Richardson, btw, sounds British and she is actually good at an American accent.