Lorna Doone
Star-crossed lovers, feuding family, royal plots, noble destinies,  and salt-of-the-earth heroes. No wonder R.D. Blackmore's romantic classic  has been a perennial favorite. Amelia Warner (Michael Caine's innocent  child bride inQuills) is Lorna, the beautiful young brunette  "queen" of the feral Doone clan in this latest adaptation, a handsome 2.5-hour  co-production between the BBC and A&E. The  once noble line now lives out of a swamp fortress and preys off the local  farmers and tradesmen, but the family patriarch (Peter Vaughan) has hatched a plot to win back his title and his land. Handsome John Ridd (Richard  Coyle) swears vengeance against the Doones when they murder his father, but he falls for Lorna, and the rakish, ruthless Doone scion (Aiden Gillen, who  swaggers through the drama with a perpetual sneer) refuses to give up his  claim on the girl without a fight.This is the kind of British romantic  adventure that decries the tradition of nobility and privilege while rewarding  its heroes with those very privileges, all within a grand framework of  melodramatic twists, thrilling battles, and chivalrous heroics. Director Mike  Barker creates an appropriately larger-than-life world at once pastoral and  savage for his little epic--shot in the verdant British countryside, where a  lush forest green permeates every outdoor scene, while the dusky interiors glow  with candlelight--giving in completely to the sweeping emotional melodrama at  the core of the story.--Sean Axmaker