Gorgeously-crafted, but otherwise inert and aloof rendering of Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning book about a love triangle in New York, circa 1870. Martin Scorsese directed and, though a few of his trademark touches are in evidence, his ultra-restrained atmosphere (while appropriate for the period) proves disenchanting as entertainment, turning his three star leads (Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder) into suffering, swooning waxworks. Scorsese was probably attempting to channel William Wyler and films such as "The Heiress", but his take on this story is cold and unenticing, and everything from the dialogue to the melodrama is stilted. An Oscar winner for the costumes--appropriate since the picture is really all style. Story previously filmed in 1934 with Irene Dunne and John Boles. *1/2 from ****