It's hard to know how viewers will judge the film version of "Brideshead Revisited." Will they compare it to Evelyn Waugh's celebrated 1945 novel or to the popular British TV series from the early 1980s? Or will they assess it entirely on its own merits?

One hopes that familiarity with the book or television version would provide context to the movie's champagne-soaked religious discussions, or give depth to the vacant main character, middle-class university student Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode). Familiar or not, most viewers will probably be dissatisfied. The film could have offered an intriguing look at either aristocratic life in England between the world wars or the dangers posed by zealots of any religion (in this case, Catholicism).

Instead, it's a melodramatic mishmash of sanctimony and hedonism. The film is beautiful enough, with pretty people wearing gorgeous clothes. Jess Hall — whose last cinematography credit is, oddly enough, the English comedy "Hot Fuzz" — captures magnificently the estate where much of "Brideshead" is set, as well as vivid shots of Venice and Oxford.

When Charles, a fledgling painter, begins his studies at Oxford, he meets the upper crust and decadent Sebastian Flyte. Charles' appetite for the beauty and affluence of Sebastian's tragically dysfunctional family is insatiable, but discreet. Goode plays Charles with such a stiff veneer that we only know his "hunger" because we're told about it. Besides Charles' excellent posture, perfect hair and ability to avoid aging over a decade or two, we know little about him.

Ben Whishaw is at the other end of the acting spectrum, with so much affectation that his alcoholic, self-destructive gay Sebastian not only flirts with Charles, but also with stereotypes. Seeing Whishaw so over-the-top here, it's easy to forget his nicely crafted spin on Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' 2007 film "I'm Not There."

There's lots of room between overacting and hardly acting at all. Hayley Atwell does what she can with the implausible role of Sebastian's sister, Julia. As Charles' love interest, she swings wildly back and forth from guilt-ridden repression to willful abandon, dousing herself with holy water one moment and drinking wine while cavorting on a beach the next.

The head of this doomed family is ably played by Emma Thompson, who is formidable as Lady Marchmain, a scarily devout Catholic. Thompson subtly reveals her character's desperation to control the lives of Julia, Sebastian and her other children. In smaller key roles, Michael Gambon as the anti-religion Lord Marchmain and Greta Scacchi, his Italian mistress, are both spot-on.

Disparate performances and a lack of thematic continuity mar the film. After over two long hours of this alternately preachy and secular journey to nowhere, one wishes director Julian Jarrold ("Becoming Jane" and "Kinky Boots") was more adept at mixing the holy water with the wine.

"Brideshead Revisited." Rated: PG-13. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. 2 stars.

To find out more about Beth Wood and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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