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I rented this movie and watched it Wednesday night because I was very tired and simply wanted something simple and mindless to give me and the couch a chance to get re-acquainted.  What I was not expecting was a very well-done, perfectly cast, and surprisingly beautiful morality tale about the ugly, corrupting nature of sin and hedonism.

Dorian Gray is a callow but incredibly beautiful youth whose parents died when he was young, arriving in London to claim a large inheritance left him by his recently deceased grandfather, an evil old domestic tyrant who used to beat young Dorian when he as a lad.  When he arrives in town, he meets an up and coming young artist named Basil Haliward and a jaded old rake named Henry Wotton, played by Colin Firth.  The artist paints his greatest work yet in a powerful, incredibly lifelike picture of young Dorian.  Meanwhile, Henry decides to take on the task of utterly corrupting the idealistic and innocent youth from the country.  Before long, Dorian is in love with the world of pleasure and indulgence, and "nails his soul to the devil's altar" in order to remain forever young, like the youth in his portrait.  And so Dorian stays the same, as the image in the painting slowly becomes more and more hideous.  And with his youth and vigor seemingly inexhaustible, Dorian plunges further and further into a world of selfish hedonism and violence.

The storyline is classic, adapted from Oscar Wilde's famous work (it's been so long since I read it that I don't know how faithful an adaptation it is).  The film is visually beautiful, and the acting performances are convincing and powerful.  I was surprised to see a Hollywood movie that presents such a traditional Judeo-Christian message: that when you deal with the devil, there is always a heavy price to pay . . . and that sin is a very, very ugly thing.  I LOVED this movie!

I thought the performances were wonderful, the costumes and locations were great, and it was shot beautifully... I didn't really like it though.    :teddyr:  I dont know, it had a little too much sex in it for my taste. It wasn't gratuitous, just not my cup of tea.

One might also try "The Picture of Dorian Gray" the 1945 film version of the book with George Sanders as Wotton, the character being based upon Wilde himself, Hurd Hatfield as Gray, that man has the most interesting pair of eyes I've ever seen on a man, Lowell Gilmore as Hallward, and Donna Reed, Peter Lawford, and Angela Lansbury in only her third film appearance.

Not having read the book, I can't say how good of an adaptation it is, but I can say, being 1945, there is little, if any, sex in it.

I don't know how traditional the message is, but if one wants to read and/or see something else from Wilde, that has a Judeo-Christian message, then check out his children's short story "The Selfish Giant." Christ Himself puts in an appearance in the story, disguised as a little child. The story is a tearjerker.