Far From the Madding Crowd

 

Fox Searchlight Pictures

 

Rating: PG-13

 

Reason for the Rating: Some sexuality and violence.

 

Plot Summary: During the Victorian Era in England, Bathsheba Everdene must choose a husband from among three very different suitors.

 

PopFam Recommends: A great mother/daughter movie.

 

I saw a trailer for Far From the Madding Criwd and it looked like “my” kind of movie: A period movie (late 1800s) and a romance. Sounded awesome just from that short description! So while my husband rolled his eyes and went to watch football, I locked myself in the bedroom and put the Blu-ray in the player.

 

When I was done two hours later, all I could say was: I loved this movie!

 

Here’s the basic story. A young English woman named Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) enjoys her independent lifestyle and declares she has no need of a husband. But during the course of the movie she receives marriage proposals from three very different men, and her ideas about a lifelong companion change. Will she choose the poor shepherd? The rich landowner? Or the dashing soldier? Good and bad choices are made by all—with a few surprises!

 

I’m a sucker for movies like Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and Sense and Sensibility. Far from the Madding Crowd falls right into that genre. I loved the unexpected moments where I felt like “No! That can’t happen!” mixed with the romance and the hard realities of life during this era.

 

This is a great mother/daughter movie. It does include a bedroom scene (between a married couple) that is not overly explicit, and a bit of groping—so keep the rating in mind if you have a younger daughter. This would be a great movie to watch and then broach the topic of making wise choices when dating—as clearly some men are trustworthy and others are not.

 

Special features include a nice interview with actress Carey Mulligan, as well as an interesting featurette about how the filmmakers adapted Thomas Hardy’s original book.

 

Hope you and your girls enjoy Far From the Madding Crowd as much as I did!

 

--AN

 

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