I usually don't like Julia Roberts. She focuses way too much on looking perfect and that dominates her movies. But she plays a different kind of role in "Mary Reilly". As Dr. Jekyll's (John Malkovich) maid getting seduced by both him and Mr. Hyde, she gives the impression of someone trapped in Victorian England wondering how to get out. And Mr. Hyde knows just how to seduce. Even knowing how evil Mr. Hyde is, you really grow to like him; he's a sort of rebel against Victorian mores and the class system.

I think that the best line in the movie is when Mary tells Dr. Jekyll about her father's (Michael Gambon) drinking problem; it was almost too self-referential! As it is, I think that Malkovich's performance in this movie might have been what made me view this movie positively, more than Julia Roberts's performance. But either way, you'll probably like it. It's not Stephen Frears's best movie, but still pretty interesting. Also starring Glenn Close.

John Malkovich was the perfect actor to play/ jekyll hyde- he personfies the good and evil that can coexist in a person. I was very impressed that Julie Roberts had the demeanor of a household servant down so well. My husbands' family comes from a line of women who were domestics when they first came to America in the 1880's-- and his mother said that's how they had to act. Even though it was a little slow- I liked the way the story developed. The fact that Mary can't hate her abusive father because she came from him- helps the doctor understand the dilemna. Altogether a satisfying movie that takes a different view of the Stevenson classic.