'Golden Bowl' Cracked: Merchant/Ivory's Misstep with Henry James

One of James's juiciest scenarios, but barely anybody involved in this enterprise seems to have caught its groove.

It suffers mightily from its deliberate pacing, pale characterizations, obvious plot and some woeful miscasting.

Screenwriter Jhabvala grabs us by the collar with a cloak-and-dagger prologue that ratchets up the stakes throughout the genteel dance of adultery and denial that follows.