He is a bit flat in his role, especially since he is supposed to be a young man head over heels in love. The virtuous lady is well played by Michelle Pfeiffer. As always, her incredible talent augments her beauty. She glides through this role as if she was born in that time and place. The director, Stephen Frears, is very good in the manner in which he handles the complex scenes, musical score and lighting.
Every scene is framed like a picture, painted by a master of the era.
For those interested, he has a gem of an independent film, the Snapper, about middle class Irish lass that becomes pregnant. Frears show quite a flair for the melodramatic which is most evident with some of the original score. Rather than keeping to period music some points of the movie are punctuated with music that would be more at home in a 1930's film noir. The disc is very light on features. There are no commentaries and little in the way of any bonuses.