Jane Eyre

The new version of Jane Eyre offers very little in the way of surprises, except for the revelation that Michael Fassbender (Hunger, Inglourious Basterds) may be one of the least-appreciated real talents in the movies. It hews closer to the recent Pride and Prejudice than the 1943 Jane Eyre that moviegoers would be most familiar with, as director Cary Fukunaga surrounds Jane (Mia Wasikowska from Alice in Wonderland) and Rochester (Fassbender) with drab faces and colors, and strips the romance bare. The film could use a little more buildup on the romance front, even though it’s kind of understood that the two characters are being tossed together. Wasikowska is adequate, maybe a little better than that, but Fassbender continues to show new shades in his performances. He’s pretty magnetic here.