[9]

The story covers a lot of ground and time, but its the characters that I find most intriguing in Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel. Lestat, Luis, and young Claudia are vampires, but take away their fangs and coffins, and you have a surrogate family steeped in homoerotic and incestuous desire. The movie is best when the family is together, a little less so afterward. Kirsten Dunst is fantastic as Claudia, the little girl who will never become a woman. Dunst gives the character maturity and ferocity that should have earned her an Oscar nomination. Brad Pitt also gives a solid performance as the eternally melancholy Luis, clinging to his last shreds of humanity while he’s pulled apart by the desires of those around him. Then there’s Tom Cruise, whose controversial casting alienates many fans of the book. Cruise may not be the Lestat everyone wanted, but without having read the book, I thought he did a good job playing a character who goes from king of the hill to bottom of the swamp and back again. The film is gorgeously shot, designed, costumed, and scored, providing a sumptuous backdrop for Rice’s somber tale. Directed by Neil Jordan.

Oscar Nominations: Art Direction, Original Score (Elliot Goldenthal)