Adapted from a story by English poet Arthur Symons and set in London at the turn of the 19th century, this drawn-out period tale charts the progress of a Jewish seamstress from East End backstreet to West End acclaim playing Hedda Gabler. There's so much potential in Arnaud Desplechin's first film in English, it seems invidious to denounce his efforts but the French director neither captures the imagination nor exploits such compelling themes as poverty, sexual betrayal and personal ambition. Even more fatally, he fails to coax any emotion out of his lead actress, Summer Phoenix (sister of River and Joaquin), who appears more petulant than hesitant as she struggles to assimilate the tricks of her trade from the Svengali-like Ian Holm and cope with the snobbery of her theatre critic beau, Fabrice Desplechin.