As usual,
A Midwest Summer Night's Dream came to me with vivid, fully formed characters.
Jebediah Greene is a loner, at first by necessity and later by choice. He takes solace in books borrowed from Doc and Mrs. Wilson, and especially loves Shakespeare.
He's taken solace in the arms of a few ladies, but none have ever struck him like Winona Young.
When I first saw this picture of Gabriel Aubrey, I recognized him right away. Jeb.
Winona Young's intelligent, sometimes too much for her own good. Books are her constant companions, but she's awkward with people. Men especially, who always seem to want their own needs taken care of first. She's feisty and knows how to take care of herself. But when she begins to know Jeb during their trip West, she also begins to learn not every man is like her terrible stepfather or the men he sought to marry her off with.
Rachel McAdams embodies the spirit of Winona perfectly.
Maggie's a prostitute in Tipton who has her sights set on the Western horizon. Often, she sets them on Jeb as well, but Jeb always refuses her. He's polite enough about it, something that appeals to Maggie. He has a sense of honor she prizes more highly than gold.
Helena Bonham Carter is perfect as Maggie. I just love her.
Doc and Mrs. Wilson are one of those couples who've been together forever, and know exactly what the other one thinks, sometimes before s/he thinks it.
I loved the way Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were like that. They'd be perfect as Doc and Mrs. Wilson.
