You’ll want to sit back and soak up the sets, the costumes, and the cast’s beautiful faces.
Online 2017 film tulip fever movie#
So what does the Tulip Fever get right? The movie looks great. How many whiffs at leading man status do we give DeHaan before Hollywood makes him take a time-out next to former Next Big Thing Taylor Kitsch? Sure, we know they’re smitten because Jan’s face practically becomes the heart-eyes emoji every time he looks Sophia’s way, and the story tells our brain that they’re falling for one another, but our hearts never get the memo. Sophia and Jan don’t make for charming, believable, or even vaguely interesting lovers. In Tulip Fever, DeHaan delivers his second disappointing romantic lead of the summer. One character that gets more than their share of screen time is Dane DeHaan’s Jan.
One can’t help but think there is a longer and more ambitious director’s cut sitting in some weary editor’s office. That’s a lot of talent to compress into 107-minutes, and most of the actors don’t have much to do. Here’s a list of names that would make any film better: Judi Dench, Zach Galifianakis, Cara Delevingne, Michael Smiley, Matthew Morrison, and David Harewood (shout out to casting for sprinkling so many black extras into the film’s public spaces).
Everyone else (aside from Judi Dench) is clearly having a ball - and make no mistake about it, this is a loaded cast. Her performance never quite syncs up with the rest of the cast, coming off as Hamlet in a world made up of Rosencrantz and Guildensterns. Vikander feels like she’s in a different film. Every now and then you may get away with a performance that’s out of whack with the rest of your film (see Peter Sellers’ comic relief in Lolita) the issue becomes a major problem when the worst offender is your movie’s lead. Tulip Fever has a charming fairy-tale quality to it, and you can tell that most of the actors are having fun delivering playful performances (which is fine, I’m always up for a whimsical historical tale), but then there are moments and performances that come off as gravely serious. As we’re introduced to the film’s many characters, the issue becomes clear: the performances feel out of sync. You don’t get very far into Tulip Fever before feeling that something is not quite right. With Maria fearing the shame of a bastard child, and Sophia unable to conceive, the women devise a plan to pass the child off as Cornelis’ heir. Mistaking Sophia for Maria, the heartbroken Willem leaves Amsterdam before learning that he is a father-to-be. The situation becomes soap operatic when the secret lover of Maria the housekeeper, Willem (Jack O’Connell), spots Sophia and Jan in a late night tryst. Younger, teeming with passion, and considerably more handsome, Jan falls for Sophia and they begin a torrid affair. As the tension mounts, Waltz brings in a local artist, Jan Van Loos (Dane DeHaan), to paint the couple’s portrait. As the years go by without a child, Sophia’s inability to conceive makes her expendable. Cornelis is rich, considerably older, and insistent on fathering a son who may carry on his legacy. Our orphaned and destitute protaganist, Sophia (Alicia Vikander), agrees to marry a well-to-do gentleman, Cornelis Sandvoort (Christoph Waltz), so that she may create a better life for her young sisters. Tulip Fever takes place in 17 th century Amsterdam. Shouldn’t a picture with so much going for it have a leg up on movies like The Trip to Spain? Yet even with these many advantages, it’s hard not to walk away from Tulip Fever thinking, “This movie should have been better.” Perhaps it’s wrong to get excited over a movie with all that potential - but them’s the breaks. On paper, Tulip Fever has a lot going for it: a talented cast featuring multiple Oscar winners, a competent director, and a spot on The Weinstein Company’s fall slate. Transformers: The Last Knight‘s budget is high enough to fund several indie movies, while films like Krisha, Blue Ruin, or even Get Out take viewers on incredible emotional journeys with budgets under five million dollars. It’s no big secret that not all films are created equal.
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