I have never read the real novel on which this movie is based but am well acquainted with the legacy of Dorian gray. so when i sat down to watch this movie i wasn't having any pre screening expectations like i had for da vinci code, harry potters and countless other films based on novels and stories i have read. so i sat and watched, and i sure loved this one. its a well made movie with some stellar performance by 'prince Caspian'. mark my words folks, given the right opportunity he can be the next breakout star of Hollywood, he can be cause in this movie he has shown such a myriad of emotions as his character gets transformed from a simple handsome youngster to a devilish man.

and the 2nd reason i loved this movie is cause it has Colin firth in it..need i say more?

The darkly amoral Oscar Wilde novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is one of my favourites and naturally lends itself to both theatrical and cinematic dramatisations with its gripping story-line and sharply-drawn characters. This latest adaptation takes some liberties with the story-line in giving a possible reason for Dorian Gray's headlong dive into hedonism in the form of a bullying father who locked and beat his young self in the attic where he's forced to hide the offending portrait, introduces Henry Wotton's daughter as a love interest and moves the action on in time to the First World War, although the source is so strong, I don't think it needs embellishment.

The Gothic element in the story is frankly maxed out as Doran descends the slippery slope to corruption, in short order corrupting a young actress who falls in love with him, deflowering a young virgin at her coming-out ball (and her mother too!) indulge in a homosexual act with his artist friend, before bottoming out with outright murder. These scenes are lurid in their depiction and justifiable I suppose in demonstrating the levels of depravity Doran Gray has sunk to. Less convincing for me in particular were the back- story of his troubled childhood as it weakened the influence on his character of the Machiavellian all-talk-no-action Henry Wooton character plus I think the action should have been contained within the Late Victorian London era, even allowing for Dorian's ageing.

All the British cast acquit themselves admirable, Ben Barnes very good as the eternally young devil-may-care Dorian, Ben Chaplin, fine as the doomed artist Basil and especially Colin Firth as Wooton, who initially inspires and encourages Dorian's increasingly heartless actions but who realises in the end the monster behind the facade that he as helped foster.

The key climactic scene where Dorian confronts his own self-image is excitingly done and indeed the film plays like a thriller in terms of pace.

In general though I think the director placed too many logs on the fire and sacrificed narrative flow and character motive in so doing, but at least the film was exciting and always trying to move forward, the London exteriors of the 1890 in particular