Parents' Guide to Lolita

Three decades on from Stanley Kubrick's Oscar-nominated adaptation, director Adrian Lyne brings Vladimir Nabokov's infamous novel back to the screen with mixed results. There's no doubting the strength of the performances in this 1997 version of Lolita. Swain in particular was nominated for various newcomer awards, and easily flips between playful childishness and knowing flirtation. That she was 15—only a year older than her character—at the time of filming only adds to the feeling of unease, though. A body double was used for the more sexual scenes, but there's no getting away from the framing of her sexualized behavior as a level of consent. The entire story is from the point of view of the abuser, voice-overs and all, and Irons' woe-is-me navel-gazing attempts to elicit sympathy that will be hard for most to muster. However, the way postwar America is brought to life is visually impressive, steeped in a languid yet restless atmosphere that reflects a country no longer looking through rose-tinted glasses—its loss of innocence evident alongside the characters as it starts to see enemies a little closer to home. Long as it is, at over two hours, it's this and Swain's screen presence that save the film from losing its momentum. However, it's hard to fully root for a movie that frames abuse as tragic, forbidden romance.