The Magnificent Ambersons

There's evidently a curse over Booth Tarkington's novel. Orson Welles's 1942 attempt to adapt it was butchered by the studio and Alfonso Arau has fared no better in his $16 million, made-for-TV bid to realise the master's original screenplay. Robert Wise (who'd co-edited Welles's flawed masterpiece) was even brought out of retirement to rework the ending. Yet, the meticulously re-created period trappings count for nought, as a quality cast passes blithely through a project in which it appears to have little pride or faith. Madeleine Stowe and Bruce Greenwood bring dignity to the leads, but Jennifer Tilly is no Agnes Morehead.