Stakes & coffins not the only wooden objects in this film

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 1999)

I love the book "Dracula" by Bram Stoker and have always hoped for a film version that would do it justice. I realize it's not the easiest novel to translate to film, but still...The biggest mistake (IMHO) that Francis Ford Coppola made was casting Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder as the Harkers. Keanu Reeves plays Jonathan Harker as if he were in need of a good enema. And Winona Ryder (while good in movies like "Reality Bites") is clearly out of her depth here. I won't even mention their horrific attempts at English accents...
What saved this film for me was Gary Oldman's sinister yet romantic portrayal of the bloodsucking Count. He made him more a figure of tragedy than horror. Two other factors are the set & costume design--atmospheric, beautiful. Sadie Frost and Tom Waits are a joy to watch. I always wondered about the inclusion of the character "Quincey Morris" in Stoker's novel. Was he thinking of his American audience? This guy is a caricature, a Victorian Marlboro Man...which is exactly how Bill Campbell played him. Richard Grant has some good moments as the morphine-addicted Dr. Jack Seward, but those 3 Dracula brides? Puh-leeze! They were about as ghostly as lactating cows.
Although, overall, I did like this movie, the 1931 Bela Lugosi version (cornball as it looks now) is still closer in spirit to Stoker's great novel.