After many, many delays, you can finally see Allentown native Dane DeHaan in a quieter, more nuanced role in the lush period romance “Tulip Fever.”
DeHaan had a lot of press last month for his starring role as a space cop in the huge budget sci-fi epic “Valerian.”
In “Tulip Fever,” he portrays an artist in 17th century Netherlands who falls in love with a married wealthy woman he is hired to paint, played by Alicia Vikander, a 2016 Oscar winner for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for “The Danish Girl.” The couple attempt to build a future by investing everything they have in the high-risk tulip market, but it all, of course, goes wrong.
The all-star cast also includes Judi Dench, Christoph Waltz, Matthew Morrison, Zach Galifinakis and Cara Delevingne, DeHaan’s “Valerian” co-star.
The movie is based on a best-selling novel by Deborah Moggach, who discovered that 17th century Europe was engulfed in a gambling craze on the color of tulip bulbs. The book demonstrated the human capacity for self-deception, greed and lust for beauty.
The movie was first conceived 20 years ago when Steven Spielberg optioned the rights. The cast featured Natalie Portman, Jim Broadbent and Jude Law. But a few days before it was due to start shooting, the British government closed a tax loophole for funding movies and the film collapsed. The new version by Weinstein Pictures is directed by Justin Chadwick with script by Tom Stoppard and Moggach.
The film, rated R, opens Friday at Civic Theatre of Allentown, and Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas in the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, Bethlehem.
—Jodi Duckett
