Lolita

Aroview: Nabakov's novel, still raising eyebrows, is here lavished with a meticulous production and all the artistry the director of 9 ½ WEEKS could rustle up.

The cast more than satisfy the demands of the cautionary black humour, with Jeremy Irons (never more silkily perverse) playing the middle-aged professor who obsesses over the underage Dominique Swain. That said, you may regret the absence of saving ironies that Kubrick caught in his 1961 version, which have somehow evaporated with all the steamy, soft-focus sincerity.

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