The trouble with filming Bible stories is that fimmakers always try to make even the most human dramas into epics. The constraints of a TV movie budget have stopped Esther turning into a Cecil B DeMille job but it's still a rather overheated saga. Our own Louise (House of Eliot) Lombard plays the title role of the Jewish girl chosen for the King of Persia's harem who becomes his queen. A somewhat melodramatic approach is tempered by decent performances from a quality cast that includes F Murray Abraham as Mordecai, Thomas Kretschmann as King Ahasuerus and Jurgen Prochnow as his scheming chamberlain Haman.

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