Owen Cooper, the brilliant centerpiece of “Adolescence,” plays young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” but he’s not around long enough for viewers to appreciate what he brings to the story.
As soon as the focus switches to the adult leads, he’s replaced by Jacob Elordi, and the film takes on a duller sheen.
Elordi is a fine actor, but he’s mismatched with Margot Robbie’s Catherine, who seems too controlling in a relationship that hints at incest. Since dad has gambled away much of their fortune, she’s not accepted into high society and must make it on her own. A wealthy neighbor attracts her attention, and soon Cathy is figuring out a way to marry up, even though love isn’t a factor.
Heathcliff disappears, and Cathy’s new life begins. When he returns — rich, groomed and much more than the Dickensian kid she once knew — she’s intrigued. Their relationship is rekindled; their troubles begin.
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Fennell uses production design and music (produced by Charli XCX) to telegraph the changes, but they can’t hide the obvious — Heathcliff is a dud. Elordi mumbles so much you can’t understand what he’s trying to say, and Cathy is so controlling you really don’t want her to succeed. The love story that knows no bounds becomes a case of betrayal, not destiny.
Fennell, who adapted Emily Brontë’s novel, takes her liberties with the story and succeeds with awesome landscapes and smart architectural touches (note the fireplace made of hands). But she gives the best moments to Hong Chau as Cathy’s friend and Martin Clunes as her father. They cut through the artifice and say what the lovers won’t. Unfortunately, we have to slog through a lot of so-so romantic scenes before they can comment.
When “Wuthering Heights” approaches its “Romeo and Juliet” heartbreak, we don’t really care. Robbie needed a co-star who was more her equal; Elordi could have used someone younger.
Fennell, meanwhile, is better on her own turf. Her “Promising Young Woman” and “Saltburn” were magical, unencumbered by expectations from those who have their own ideas about how “Wuthering Heights” should unfold.
A future original with Cooper might be a better next step for Fennell. This “Wuthering” is withering.
