Lovely film and brilliantly cast

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2018)

I read the book this was based on years ago so perhaps my fondness for it and the details have dimmed.
I watched it as soon as it hit Netflix and loved it so much, I watched it again the next day.
It certainly would be better served as a mini series for character development and to involve more of the original plot which was what made the book so entrancing.
I thought Lily James did a fine job considering how they wrote her storyline and considering who could've played the part (Kate Winslet, Rosamund Pike). Juliet was not a strong willed female lead like Jessica Brown Finlay's Elizabeth - who was not on the screen enough in my opinion.
But the chemistry between Juliet and Dawsey is what kept me enthralled. The glances and longing looks and the moments (in the bar, his bedroom when Juliet finds the book she gave Dawsey, and right before her fiance Mark shows) are so charged with energy I found myself rooting for them and wanting to rewatch those scenes over and over. Michiel Husman brings an intoxicating presence to the screen in everything he does and I could not watch anyone else when he was on.
Matthew Goode's Sidney is hilarious and deserved more time and I really loved the rest of the cast which was SO well placed in their roles. It's a bit predictable towards the end but it's the ending I was hoping for so I was pleased.
If they kept the same cast and expanded it to a mini series, I'd love it even more.