I was anticipating beauty in "Dorian Gray," but I seriously question whether Oscar Wilde would approve of something this blandly attractive or morally questionable! Ben Barnes attempts to rise to the challenge as the central character, but he doesn't quite succeed. “Gray” is a young man who socializes widely and sets ambitious goals after coming into possession of a small house in London. He quickly becomes entangled…

It’s disappointing that Stuart Townsend, who could have been an ideal Dorian Gray, was misused in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It's fair to say that at 31, he might have seemed older than appropriate for the part back in 2003, and even more so when this version of Dorian Gray came out in 2009; additionally, he appeared too animated, and it seems from both this film and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) that…

It misses the mark on nearly all the key elements—the interesting parts—of Oscar Wilde's _The Picture of Dorian Gray_. Final rating: ★★ - There were aspects I liked, but it didn’t come together well.

It’s unsettling to see yet another version of Oscar Wilde's tale. The movie centers on Dorian Gray (played by Ben Barnes), who falls into a life of pleasure thanks to Lord Wotton (Colin Firth). After having his picture done, Dorian avoids aging, but there's a price to pay for that. Oliver Parker’s film isn’t very true to the original book, and it comes across as an odd failure. It functions reasonably well as a st…