House of Mirth, The

Gillian Anderson stars as Lily Bart, an attractive player in early 1900 New York society who faces financial ruin if she does not marry soon. Her flirtations with an attorney (Eric Stoltz) and the attention of suitors (including Anthony LaPaglia), married men (Terry Kinney, Dan Aykroyd) and jealous peers (Laura Linney, Jodhi May) feed a claustrophobic, emotionally parched melodrama that feels way too long and labored. This meticulous tale of sexual hypocrisy, inheritances, naïve investments (both economic and personal) and vicious backstabbing carries the heavy ache of tragedy but is curiously uninvolving. Directed and adapted by Terence Davies from Edith Wharton’s 1905 novel.