Return of the Native

Hallmark Hall of Fame" recoups its quality tradition with a race-through adaptation of Thomas Hardy's never-before-filmed 1878 novel "The Return of the Native." Compressed, stripped and charged with sodden melodrama, presentation still outshines many less ambitious video dramas. Some may shy away from the histrionics, but the vidpic's choice stuff.

Director Jack Gold wastes no time establishing heath-bound Eustacia Vye (Catherine Zeta Jones) in 1842 in Egdon Heath village. Beautiful and intriguing, suspected by some of being a witch, Eustacia drops Wildeve (Clive OwenClive Owen), who spitefully marries Thomasin (Claire Skinner) against the wishes of her genteel aunt, Mrs. Yeobright (Joan Plowright). Mrs. Yeobright's son, Clym (Ray Stevenson), in Paris for five years, comes home to Egdon Heath to open a school for the underprivileged. Eustacia, anxious to shake the heath, marries Clym despite his mother's objections, hopeful she can get him to move back to Paris. Vidpic uses Hardy's trademark fateful turns (such as the unanswered door and the overlooked letter on the mantelpiece), but eliminates a snakebite that knocks off one major character and forgoes the villager stabbing pins into a waxen image shaped like Eustacia. Final third of the telefilmtelefilm, boiling down the action and characters, charges into a silent-movie-style high-flown mellermeller. The beautiful Jones establishes Eustacia as a special identity from her first appearance on a hill; she turns in a strong perfperf. Stevenson, in his first major film role, makes an auspicious bowbow. Steven Mackintosh is a quiet standout as Diggory Venn, projecting a sweet melancholy because of his secret love for Thomasin; Owen's commanding, hedonistic Wildeve is a seductive characterization. Plowright delivers an appropriate Mrs. Yeobright. Alan Hume's lensing and Jim Oliver's editing are superb. Peter Mullins' gorgeous, period design for the production handsomely sets up the story and Derek Hyde's costumes are terrif. Carl Davis' swollen score weighs in heavily -- but then, it's Thomas Hardy. The 182nd "Hallmark Hall of Fame" dramatization is a winner, though it makes clear why Hardy's novel hasn't been filmed before. If those who haven't read the novel have trouble getting a handle on the drama, just stick around, it's worth it. They might even pick up the book after seeing this truncated version.