johnplotz

This production has the misfortune of following the brilliant 1985 version. Marilla Cuthbert in 1985 was a solid, religious, grounded woman, who learns to love Anne. The present Marilla is merely cranky. The character of Matthew Cuthbert in 1985 was shy and deep. The present Matthew is a superficial fool. The 1985 Anne was passionate. The new Anne seems forced. The actress does not really inhabit the role -- but rushes through her lines and puts on laughter or tears as the script directs. In 1985, the characters interact and change each other. In this production, they seem to bounce off each other. They are not really present. I agree with other reviewers that the story was rushed.

Come to think of it, I don't believe the house had green gables -- or any gables at all. (Maybe I'm wrong about that.)

Maybe if the viewer has never seen this charming story before, the 2016 production would be good. Compared to the earlier version -- still easily available -- it is a great disappointment.

Quiz Show portrays various Jews of the 1950's with great brilliance: (1) John Turturro is a "schlimazel" -- Yiddish for someone inept and unlucky. Turturro plays an intelligent man, a striver, but also a failure. He is very cynical. He is dishonest, but not really such a bad guy. He will never be fully integrated into American society. He will always wear a sign around his neck reading "Jew". "Jew" because he makes no effort to hide his Jewishness and because he fits antisemitic stereotypes: clever, dishonest, hook-nosed and ugly.

(2) Rob Morrow is Turturro's opposite -- well-educated, good-looking, and highly successful as a hotshot young government lawyer. Morrow thinks highly of himself. He is super-ethical and is offended by other people's dishonesty. He greatly admires the Van Doren family -- the ultimate academic WASPs with a WASP house and WASP speech and WASP attitudes -- in principle above the dirty game of making money, their minds set on higher things. Morrow can integrate if he wishes -- but at the price of giving up much of his Jewishness. His wife sees this clearly and objects.

(3) The producers of the rigged quiz show are Jews, as is the owner of the TV network. These characters are dishonest, indifferent to morality, and highly successful -- especially the owner, played with spine-tingling accuracy by Alan Rich.

In contrast to these Jews is Charles Van Doren, played by Ralph Fiennes. He is tall, handsome, and American (i.e., a Gentile). He is like Morrow in being well-educated. He is like Turturro in being dishonest. He is even more dishonest than Turturro, since he is also a hypocrite.

I have known all these characters. They are highly familiar to me. I can attest to how close to reality they are. The movie nails them. It gets them exactly right. A triumph.