Written by Maria Nation and Louisa May Alcott
Directed by Bobby Roth

The Inheritance is adapted from an unpublished book by Louisa May Alcott, written when she was just seventeen years old. Knowing that going in might have changed some of the perspective I had on the story. Although there are parts that are terrific, there is also a lot that comes off like a fairy tale, looking at the world in the simplest manner.

Edith Adelon (portrayed by Cari Shayne) is an orphan girl living with the Hamiltons. They are a wealthy family, and Edith was brought to live with them as a companion to their daughter, Amy (portrayed by Brigitta Dau). The two girls are quite close, having grown up together. However, Henry and Beatrice Hamilton (portrayed by Tom Conti and Meredith Baxter) don’t seem to regard Edith as their daughter, no matter how close they have been.

With three visitors arriving for the annual horse race, Edith’s help is enlisted to find a suitable husband for Ida Glenshaw (portrayed by Brigid Brannagh), a visiting cousin. Ida is not the kindest person in the world and seems to take every opportunity to remind Edith of her social standing.

Edith happens to run into James Percy (portrayed by Thomas Gibson), one of the visitors, before his arrival at the Hamilton home. She makes an impression on him, and despite all of the Hamiltons’ efforts, he finds himself more drawn to Edith than to Ida.

As a reward for saving Amy’s life, the family allows Edith to attend the annual Green’s Cup Ball. There, Ida meets the nephew of the host of the Ball, Frederick Arlington (portrayed by Paul Anthony Stewart). That would seem to alleviate the rivalry between Ida and Edith, until Frederick’s eyes seem to turn toward Edith as well after Ida proves to be a bit too fast for him.

The title The Inheritance really doesn’t make sense until the end, as the story reaches its apex and the situations resolve themselves. However, the statement that the movie makes about the class system should really give one pause. Instead of tackling the deeper issue, the story goes for the fluff and the fairy tale. Edith is just about adopted into the family, yet she is not treated as one of them; she is not accepted as one of them socially, despite having been raised by them since birth. They never seem to consider how much these slights might hurt Edith. It just seems to generally be accepted that her place in the world is lower than theirs, and no matter what she does in her life, she will never be “as good” as those in the Hamilton’s social circles, simply due to her birth.

SPOILER

The ending is something of a let down as it sort of lets the family off the hook for their treatment of Edith. It seems to justify the whole idea that the rich are somehow better and that Edith had to become one of them to be treated in the same manner as they were. I would have liked it better if they had not discovered her pedigree and had to deal with their conscience and their treatment of her.

*** END SPOILER

Cari Shayne is great in the role of Edith. She reminds me a lot of Kirsten Dunst; her look, her smile, the way she carries herself. Brigitta Dau and Brigid Brannagh are secondary to her. Dau is unremarkable, but Brannagh does fine in the role of the evil, manipulative Ida. Thomas Gibson is excellent as the love interest, although the part is somewhat underwritten. He comes off as a rich, jet-set playboy who’s finally decided to settle down and find himself a wife, something a teenage girl would imagine.

Tom Conti as Henry Hamilton is wonderful. He seems to have more affection toward Edith, and the two share a different bond than he has with any of the other women in the house, occasionally enlisting her as a co-conspirator to sneak contraband into the house. He provides comic relief at times as well. His performance somewhat saves the movie from being too one-dimensional and predictable. Meredith Baxter is fine as a woman of the time, spending most of her time fretting over inconsequential things.

The attention to the detail of the period is excellent. The costuming and settings are beautiful. I liked the way the lighting was used as well, at times it washed out the picture and it was quite an effective technique to set the tone.

The Inheritance was a fine movie to watch, although there were parts that seemed to validate that somehow one’s family lineage makes some people better than others. That’s not something I believe, and presenting that as the way society works bothers me. It’s also predictable, although some of the way the story resolves itself is a bit different. Cari Shayne’s acting, especially in scenes with Tom Conti, is excellent, and the warmth these two convey in their scenes really saved the movie for me. Definitely worth checking out if you like romantic chick-flicks.