It

First Hit:  Although the characters were engaging and well defined, this film was uninteresting, long and lacked suspense.

It is sad when a film bills itself as horror and it doesn’t create any such feeling. Although the character “It” (AKA Pennywise) was appropriately evil looking, the jerky back and forth movement when it tried to be scary came off as pressed and silly.

As a set-up, the town of Derry, where the film takes place, has a history of young kids going missing and the town doesn't seem to concerned about this.

The kids in this film were distinctly defined. The tough bully kids, led by a policeman’s son named Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton), was sufficiently mean. His angst and bully ways came from the way his father treated him.

The group of nerds were perfectly developed with their own backgrounds and reasons for being part of the nerd group.

The story begins with a young boy Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) folding a piece of paper to make a boat for his younger brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) so that Georgie can float the boat down a rain filled street gutter. The boat gets sucked down the storm drain and this is when the audience gets introduced to ‘It’ aka: 'Pennywise' (Bill Skarsgard). Luring the boy to reach down and get his boat, the boy disappears down the drain.

At school Bill is consoled by his nerd friends Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer), and Stanley (Wyatt Oleff). They soon join forces with other nerds and outcasts Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly (Sophia Lillis), and Mike (Chosen Jacobs) as they band together after having separate experiences with what scares each of them.

What ‘It’ does is that it finds out what scares each kid and presents it to them to lure them into the lair below the city streets in the sewers and old water system of Derry.

As expected, the kids band together and solve the issue of the missing children.

The wonderful interaction within the nerdy group of kids was excellent. They had their differences with each other but their deep friendship prevailed over everything.

The interaction between Henry and his father were appropriately intense and gave a solid base for Henry's bullying. Then there was Beverly’s relationship with her father, which was creepily perfect.

The bikes, the drugstore, library and town’s main street were well sourced and perfect for the era. The darkness of the haunted house and sewer system were good in their representation, however, I never felt any fear feeling during the film. I didn’t get afraid for the kids, nor did I sense enough suspense to make it a horror film.

Lieberher was excellent as the stuttering young boy who loved his brother and fell with great affection for Beverly. Hamilton was excellent as the bully who wanted to show his father that he was unafraid and tough. Scott was very good as the young boy who fell under It's spell. Skarsgard was good as Pennywise ‘It’. Taylor was fantastic as the overweight nerd who was enchanted by Beverly. Lillis was sublime as the only girl in the group. Her fearlessness was perfect. Wolfhard, Jacobs, Grazer and Oleff were very good. Chase Palmer and Cary Fukunaga wrote a mediocre screenplay in that the story lacked real engagement and was too long. Andy Muschietti was the director. Although the children’s performances were excellent, he didn’t create any real suspense and horror based fear. The film dragged on way too long.

Overall:  This was a disappointment because the characters were good but the story and interaction between the vehicle of fear and the kids was done mediocrely.

Jane Eyre

First Hit: Beautifully shot, well-acted, but there was something dramatically missing.

This story has been done many times and this version was one of the most beautifully shot of all of them.

The feeling of the cold moist damp rain of England, the moors, the stone floors, the heavy drapes, the wavy glass windows, the candle and fire lit rooms were all visually arresting and felt true to the time. Here the director got it right.

The film begins with Jane (played by Mia Wasikowska) running away from the home of Mr. Rochester (played by Michael Fassbender) where she had been governess to his child ward. Her journey there began as an unwanted child (played by Amelia Clarkson) by her guardian Mrs. Reed (played by Sally Hawkins). Reed ships her off to a boarding school where she is treated poorly but becomes educated.

Unfortunately there is no resemblance between the actresses of the young and older Jane and this obvious mismatch was troublesome. Although there was a consistent feeling of Jane through these two actresses, and both were very good, the obvious physical discrepancies (mouth, lips, eyes and nose) were disconcerting to me and kept me from buying the story.

When the older Jane arrives at Mr. Rochester’s home she is greeted by Mrs. Fairfax (played by Judi Dench) who guides her into the role as governess. Mr. Rochester is intrigued by Jane and her direct fearless openness towards him and compels him to want to marry her.

In the rush to get the wedding done, a relative of his first wife barges in to object to the marriage. Jane is heartbroken and runs away (the opening scene). She makes her way to St. John Rivers (played by Jamie Bell) and his two sisters. They take her in and give her the opportunity to begin life again as a teacher in a small countryside school. But Jane’s heart yearns for Mr. Rochester and eventually she finds her way back.

Wasikowska is very good and endearing in this role, however I don’t know if it was something her acting, in the direction or in the lack of chemistry between her and Fassbender that left me unconvinced of this story. Fassbender was good as the troubled wealthy man looking for love and peace. But as previously stated something didn’t work in this film. Clarkson was wonderful as the young Jane and despite the obvious physical dissimilarities between her and the older Jane she did a wonderful job. Bell came off as fully untrustworthy from the get go. Whether his was supposed to come off this way or not, I don’t know. But the moment he picks up Jane from his front door, he felt creepy and it bothered me that Jane didn’t see it. Dench was strong as the house head housekeeper and guiding light for Jane. Moira Buffini wrote a good script from the Charlotte Bronte novel. Cary Fukunaga shot this film exquisitely, however there was something missing, a compelling chemistry, to make this version the best ever done.

Overall: I like this film, but left the theater wanting something more compelling.