Theater Whore: Far From The Madding Crowd

Far From The Madding Crowd 8/10

This was not Mad Max Fury Road. I thought Cam and I were gonna see that or this Japanese animated film. So when we got to the Arclight and I started getting confused about show times I discovered that were were gonna be watching a movie that I've never heard of called Far From The Madding Crowd. Thankfully I trust her taste in movies 100% so I told her to not even tell me what the movie is supposed to be about. I didn't know the plot, the stars of it, or anything. She took a huge chance because when I see people dressed in certain outfits, Victorian to be exact, I say “Nope.” Glad I didn't this time. This will contain a lot of spoilers.

In Victorian England this lady named Bathsheba Everdone played by Carey Mulligan who is working on a small farm on land owned by a guy named Gabriel Oak played by Matthias Schoenaerts. He starts to like her and proposes to her after giving her a sheep. She doesn't want to be owned by any man which hurts him but he moves on. She leaves after inheriting a farm while Oak's dumb ass dog freaks the sheep out and they run off a cliff and pretty much ruins his life.

While in a new place Oak stumbles across her place while stopping a fire and saving her crops. He begins working for her and even though he likes her he knows how to keep it civil. This was a good breath of fresh air for me. One day as a joke Bathsheba and her helper send a Valentine's Day card to a guy named William Boldwood played by Michael Sheen. He is a successful farmer and weird. He starts to fall for Bathsheba and she lets him know the card wasn't serious but he's like “Oh really? Well...I am rich and have this much stuff so marry me.” She turns him down. That's two guys so far.

There's this guy named Sergeant Frank Troy played by Tom Sturridge. He's a dick. He is supposed to get married to this girl Fanny played by Juno Temple and she goes to the wrong church. He leaves, gets wasted, and ends up bumping into Bathsheba. He calls her beautiful and that's all she needs. Next thing you know he is kissing her and touching her ladyparts. Boom. Married. He ruins her farm with his gambling problems and things get worse when he bumps into his old girl who is carrying his child.

This movie was good. It wasn't an explosion fest, there's not a ton of violence, a dog gets shot, and I could not figure out how this was going to end. I thought it was going one way, it went another, then I figured out how it'd go, then it didn't. Check this out if you get the chance.

Click here for previous Theater Whore.