Charlotte Stant: Uma Thurman	Prince Amerigo: Jeremy Northam
Maggie Verver: Kate Beckinsale	Adam Verver: Nick Nolte
Fanny Assingham: Anjelica Huston	Colonel Bob Assingham: James Fox
Director: James Ivory

30 Second Bottom Line: Beautifully familiar Merchant Ivory production. Adapted from the Henry James novel, the wealthy and untitled mingle with the poor but titled, in a game of lust, greed, and occasionally, love. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala delivers a dazzling screenplay, characterized by an outstanding cast.

Story Line: In his dilapidated villa near Rome, Prince Amerigo (Jeremy Northam) explains to his American lover, Charlotte Stant (Uma Thurman), the necessity of his marriage to her friend, Maggie Verver (Kate Beckinsale), an American heiress. The Prince is loaded with charm and a title, but alas, no money.

Charlotte, too, depends on the kindness of strangers, staying at a friend's chateaux across the continent. Amerigo even suggests she find a wealthy husband. They have nothing to offer each other, except the obvious. It's 1903, and class and status in society determine everything.

Maggie and Charlotte have been friends since school days; so it is agreed that when Charlotte arrives for the wedding no one will tell Maggie that Amerigo and Charlotte already know each other. With pure innocence, Maggie encourages a friendship between her intended husband and her dearest friend. And with complete naiveté she welcomes Charlotte's attention to her father, Adam Verver (Nick Nolte), as well.

While shopping for a gift in London a few days before the wedding, Charlotte and Amerigo find an exquisite crystal and golden bowl in a quaint shop. It seems obvious to the owner, a man named Jarvis (Peter Eyre), that this is a wealthy young couple in love, so he complies when Charlotte asks him to set it aside for her. Amerigo cautions Charlotte that there is an almost imperceptible crack in the bowl.

With Maggie and the Prince married, Fanny Assingham (Anjelica Huston), a woman who specializes in "social introductions", urges Charlotte to evaluate her options. "You need a rich husband," she tells Charlotte. Fanny and her husband, Colonel Bob Assingham (James Fox), are the closest you'll get to a fun couple in this circle. They know how to play the game.

Uma Thurman is both volatile in her daring and vulnerable in her fragile emotional state as Charlotte, who is desperate to continue her affair with Amerigo, now her best friend's husband. Not one to be lonely (or without means) for long, she finds a chink in the armor of Adam Verver. He misses the companionship of his daughter and Charlotte fills the bill there.

Adam and Maggie are extremely close, since her mother died when Maggie was very young. She went everywhere with her father from then on; business dealings, even the slightly shady ones, to the finest establishments and homes all over the world. Maggie remains devoted to her father even after her marriage; and Adam is continually protective of her as well.

Everyone happily accepts the marriage of Charlotte to Adam Verver. She has a rich husband. He has a beautiful companion, whom he believes shares his vision of bringing art and culture to the masses. Maggie feels her father will be cared for and Amerigo is pleased that Charlotte will have a most comfortable station in society. But Charlotte persists and Amerigo succumbs to continuing an indiscreet affair.

Disaster strikes when the same shopkeeper, Jarvis, delivers the golden bowl to Maggie, who has bought it for her father's birthday. Jarvis recognizes Amerigo and Charlotte in a photograph, and comments that they are the "unforgettable" couple who almost bought it a few years earlier.

This confirms Maggie's suspicions; but what will she do with this information? Kate Beckinsale flawlessly portrays the transition from guileless friend and wife in love with her husband, to clever protector of her family realm.

Tell Me More About It: Inspired performances, gorgeous cinematography and great costuming make The Golden Bowl a joy to watch. This is the best collaboration of Merchant Ivory and Jhabvala since The Remains of the Day.

Symbolism and foreshadowing are a bit heavy handed at times. The cracked bowl, the once splendid, now dilapidated villa, are all signs of flawed lives. The shadow of death hangs over these lovers, just as the Prince's ancestors had been brutalized for infidelity, centuries earlier by an enraged patriarch.

Nick Nolte as Adam Verver, is smooth and polished. The exact opposite of the "soft coal" mined in American City, his hometown, and the source of his vast fortune. His life's work is to build a museum there, and fill it with the artifacts he has collected from around the world. His intention is to share that dream with Charlotte. She hates the idea of returning to America. She has nightmares about the grime and bleak streets, and she doesn't think the workers will appreciate the magnificent gift of the museum.

The use of black and white film clips of the period at the turn of the 20th century in the U.S., along with the brashness of an "industrialized" musical track heard in these scenes, are in stark contrast to the loveliness of the world these people inhabit abroad. Charlotte becomes a prisoner of fate.

Uma Thurman: Sweet and Lowdown	Jeremy Northam: An Ideal Husband
Kate Beckinsale: Brokedown Palace Pearl Harbor (summer 2001)	Nick Nolte: Trixie, Simpatico
Anjelica Huston: Mists of Avalon - TV Numerous feature films	James Ivory: A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries