My Cousin Rachel 2017

     This film is based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier.  Philip was an orphan and his cousin Ambrose raised him.  They lived in Devon and Ambrose was a landowner.  Phillip loved Ambrose like he was his father.  Ambrose started to have some health issues and his physician advised him to move to a warmer climate.  Ambrose leaves for Tuscany and he meets his half-Italian cousin Rachel.  Ambrose and Rachel get married but Ambrose dies soon after.  Philip is in shock and he wonders what happened?  Rachel comes to live with Philip in the house previously owned by Ambrose.  Phillip has inherited the property owned by Ambrose.  On the fringe are Philip’s godfather and estate lawyer Nick Kendall and his daughter Louise.

     The scenery of this area is very beautiful and so are the horses.  There is some confusion in the script about what is going on and I was uncertain for a moment about the ending?  Philip starts out with a love hate relationship with Rachel and then he starts ignoring any advice from his lawyer?  3* (This movie is OK)    

  

106 min, Drama directed by Roger Michell with Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen, Pierfrancesco Favino, Simon Russell Beale, Tim Barlow, Bobby Scott Freeman, Tristram Davies, Andrew Havill, Vicki Pepperdine, Poppy Lee Friar.

Note:  Imdb 6.0, 76% critic 46% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 1*, Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 399 reviews, Metacritic 63 out of 100 with 34 critics 6.1 out of 10 with 31 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Devon, Surrey, Cornwall, England, UK; Anghiari and Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy.  The white horse rode by Rachel Weisz was trained for the TV series Game of Thrones of 2011.  The horse was trained to play dead when the rider tugged hard on the left rein.  Weisz was unaware of this quirk and she was partially trapped under the horse’s left side for a brief period.  This must have been a surprise to everyone?  Filming took place near the Cornwall border but Director Roger Michell avoided filming in Corwall.  This city is featured in the period TV drama Poldark of 2015.  Weisz is 16 years older than Sam Claffin.  This is a remake of a 1952 movie with Olivia de Haviland and Richard Burton.