Washington Square Movie Review

Hardly a lush Merchant-Ivory epic, Jennifer Jason Leigh gets dumbed-down and uglified for her treatment in this adaptation of the Henry James novel, about a poor adventurer (Chaplin) who may or may not be after the wallflower's money. Father (Finney) disapproves, to the point where he hauls her off to Europe for a year. By film's end, dad is as stubborn as ever, which actually helps the two would-be lovers see things a bit more clearly. A great twist on the period piece, despite its maudlin sensibilities.