Sadly Over-hyped

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

It is true that as an adaptation Under the Greenwood Tree(2005) has little to do with the book(a gem of a book and one of Hardy's most charming and accessible, and if there is a preference to book and adaptation it'd be the former). Any adaptation does deserve to be judged on its own, there are a lot of film/TV series out there that are not very good adaptations of the source material but have many great merits to make them work on their own. Under the Greenwood Tree(2005) is one such adaptation. It looks fantastic, the costumes are evocative, the scenery is vibrant and colourful and the photography shimmers. That a lot of scenes were incredibly atmospheric is something to admire too. The music is similarly wistful and beautifully orchestrated, as well as being composed simply to make it easier to remember, most importantly as well it is fitting with each scene. There is a fair bit of repetition, but because the quality of the music is so lovely this viewer was past caring. The a-cappella men's chorus rendition towards the end is guaranteed to warm your heart. The writing has a lot of gentle humour and a light-hearted charm, and more winning is the optimism brimming through. The story is paced well, is charming and gentle in spirit, helps you relate to the characters and their relationships to other characters(Fancy and Dick's especially has appealing intimacy and the passion is certainly there). There is more of an emphasis on the romance than in the book, but there is a really passionate and affecting nature to it that it works. The acting has no real qualms either. Keeley Hawes is older and not as coquettish as her novelistic counterpart, however she is pretty, full of personal charm and that she is very sympathetic will win you over once you enjoy the adaptation for what it is. James Murray is dashing and the outgoing and yearning side to his character worked. Ben Miles gives a very poignant performance that you identify with him, commanding every scene he appears in. Steve Pemberton is a very amusing Shiner, and Tony Haygarth and Tom Georgeson are effective father figures. Overall, Under the Greenwood Tree(2005) is a real pleasure to watch and ideal family entertainment, and I do feel that the dislike it gets for its lack of fidelity to the book is undeserved. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Every role Keeley Hawes has tackled has been played to perfection and totally believable, and her performance as "Fancy Day" in "Under the Greenwood Tree" was no exception.This terrific Ashley Pharoah adaptation brought Thomas Hardy's novel (albeit abridged) and it's wonderful characters and settings to life, and credit must go to director Nicholas Laughland for his careful control, particularly in not allowing the comedy pieces to develop into slapstick. The entire production was superbly acted by a perfectly chosen and brilliant supporting cast.The music too must not be forgotten. It melded in beautifully at every turn.One minor criticism I have is the choice of the filming location. Not that I wish to denigrate the island of Jersey (I've been there and it's a beautiful place), but it's not Hardy's "Wessex", but then I suppose there's very little left of England that is. However great credit must go to the production designer Dave Arrowsmith for making us believe it was. (Incidentally I agree wholeheartedly with his exception of ALStubbino's comments. The latter must have been watching a totally different film to everyone else.) The only real downside was that the whole joyous occasion was over too soon. Thankfully I taped it, for this is one to savour.

It is a long time since I read the book, and this movie version was good enough to inspire me to read it again. The acting was very convincing - for all the key roles. My two reservations are technical, First, I found it distracting that the setting was so very different from Hardy's Wessex - I understood Mellstock to have been a large village, the street-scape of the location used made it look like a town - and/or a French or Italian town at that. From this site (IMDB), I see that the filming location was Jersey, so that explains the continental connection, I guess. I appreciate that probably no Dorset village would pass for Mellstock, but I would argue that somewhere in the Cotswolds would have been sufficiently close to be accurate. Second, on the version I saw (PBS in the USA) the music soundtrack was so loud that it was intrusive. However, too loud music soundtracks is typical for PBS documentaries too - so perhaps this issue is not the responsibility of the original producer in the UK.I would probably vote higher than 4, were it not for my desire to counter the apparent ramping up of this movie's score by those associated with its production.

Under The Greenwood Tree is a very enjoyable film that tells the story of three men falling in love with a new teacher in the village. it shows how she changes within the story and it is a very good adaption of the novel by the classic author; Thomas Hardy. It is very strange watching this film when you live in jersey as all of the locations are familiar to you. I would have given a 10 but it didn't have the dog running through the may pole fair- which took a very long time to film as the dog was more interested in the chickens! Also i found the story moves quite quickly, but if it was made longer the audience may lose interest. at least this way you can finish watching it in excitement as it is a perfect drama for Christmas. it shows all the for seasons with great detail.Filming Under The Greenwood Tree was a great experience and was the best summer of my life I made some good friends and thought all the crew was great. The film made me realise that the crew are the most important element to a film and i would just like 2 say thanks 2 them all! xx