I feel a bit generous giving this movie a 5 out of 10 but my score is based on the way little Pearl's scarlet and gold dress looked and I did picture Demi Moore as Hester when I read the book. This movie is more like the Choose Your Own Adventure books from my childhood with Nathaniel Hawthorne thrown in. Demi has said not a lot of people have read the book even though it was published over one hundred years ago by one of America's greatest writers and has been a staple in high schools since time in memorial! Everyone who has read the book knows the meaning of the scarlet letter A for adultery changed to Able or Angel in regards to Hester because she helped out the people of her town when she was needed. The choice of the ending is an Indian attack with Hester and Pearl leaving with Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale goes against what Nathaniel Hawthorne had in mind. I wonder if his grandchildren and great-grandchildren were offended by this Hollywoodized version of their grandfather's story? The language in the book is beautiful and Pearl had more of a role in the book than this movie! Nepotism shows up because Demi has cast daughters Scout and Tallulah as Pearl and they don't really say anything! Robert Duvall and Gary Oldman do their best as Roger Chillingsworth and Rev. Dimmesdale. Do what Olive from "Easy A" says in regards to this story: watch the original story and not the one with Demi Moore as Hester taking a lot of baths and talking with a fake English accent!

VERY stupid adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic. For one thing Demi Moore is totally miscast in the title role. I have nothing against her--she can be good in the right roles...but casting her as a Puritan was just stupid. Gary Oldman looks like he doesn't know what the hell he's doing in this and Robert Duvall sadly embarasses himself.

I (unfortunately) saw it in a theatre back in 1995 (Yup--I PAID to see this movie!). There were a bunch of English school teachers in attendance. They started laughing during the opening credits which says the movie is "based on characters created by Hawthorne" and didn't let up during the entire movie. Actually their comments were more enjoyable than the movie itself. And they REALLY howled at the end which was totally different from the book! Also, at 135 minutes, it's WAY too long.

Really...who thought this was a good idea? Why take a classic book and screw it over completely? Thankfully, this seems to be forgotten--it should stay that way. Don't bother.

Prurient, ludicrous, but undeniably entertaining drama with some camp appeal could politely be called a revisionist variation on Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic book about a New England woman in the 17th century whose illicit, secret affair with a minister results in her scandalous pregnancy. If you throw out the source material and view this simply as a star-crossed lovers tale, some minor enjoyment can be eked out of the overheated scenario--but who wants to throw out Hawthorne? It's an over-the-top simplification with a ridiculous script which at times mirrors--rather amusingly--"The Blue Lagoon" (both screenplays were written by Douglas Day Stewart). Story previously filmed in 1926, 1934 and 1973; Demi Moore is our Hester Prynne this time, and while she's not exactly 17th century, she fits right in when the narrative steams up. ** from ****