The Proposition

A ludicrous, outrageously overwrought period soap opera whose preposterous plot twists are so incompetently realized that murder, adultery, bitter fraternal rivalry, violation of religious vows (oh, which vow do you think?) and amour fou seem just as dull as dull can be. Arthur and Eleanor Barret (William Hurt and Madeleine Stowe) are the cream of Boston Catholic society. He's wealthy; she's a disciple of Virginia Woolfe and author of a series of literary novels championing women's rights. Eleanor wants desperately to bear her husband's child, but because he's sterile they hire a hunky youngster (Neil Patrick Harris) to act in loco paternis. Ta...