Effie Gray. wife of famed (and in this movie, fanatically narcissistic) John Ruskin, has had her inner light suppressed by the cold remoteness of her illustrious husband and his family.

Lugubrious is word that hardly begins to describe the dark, desultry production values of this movie - intended to show Effie's withdrawal and despair. However, the movie would have been better served by a little acting on Dakota Fanning's part.

Instead she plays the entire movie on one totally affect-free note.

Emma Thompson has only a small part as Lady Eastlake, an art patroness, whose role in the movie is limited to witnessing and commenting on Effy's despair at various intervals. Yet she manages to inhabit the role fully with her own personal radiance. With her richness of character and perspicacity versus Dakota Fanning's catatonic performance, it's hard to see why she takes such an interest in the girl. Pity? Maybe, but there is a clear declaration that she see's wit and beauty in Effie. Maybe that's what the script says, but there isn't even the faintest glimmer of an inner life to suggest such a thing.

Playing a soul that has been tamped down and bound is not easy. But it's possible. We just don't see it in this movie

Instead, the director depends on lighting. In fact, the only scenes that aren't drearily lit are when Effie is allowed a glimpse of freedom outside her husband's control - in Venice and in Scotland.

To Dakota Fanning's credit, she does a remarkable job of allowing a hint of her inner pleasure to timidly bloom on her face as she realizes that she has finally escaped her prison.

I just wish we could have seen less gloomy lighting and more of Effie's inner life flitting just below the surface. It would have made a much more engaging movie.

Note: Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay but didn't produce the movie. Perhaps earlier scenes showing Effie's decline were cut? Maybe even one where Lady Eastlake meets Effie before her decline? One could only wish that she had had more creative control. It might have been a very different movie.

Cameos from James Fox, Robbie Coltrane and Derek Jacobi are all wonderful. ( )