TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film
Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Gypsi Bates The family of the retiring and oblivious Reverend Goodfellow (Rowan Atkinson) is falling apart: his wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) is lonely and looking for solace with the golf instructor (Patrick Swayze), his daughter is running wild, and his son is being bullied at school. When the new housekeeper, Grace (Maggie Smith), arrives, things begin to look up for the Goodfellows as problems seem to miraculously disappear. What they don't realize is that 43 years ago, Grace was responsible for clearing up a problem of her own in a most interesting way.In this disturbingly entertaining black comedy, the veteran cast display their excellent acting skills. Atkinson is particularly great, and it's hard to find a better actress than Dame Maggie Smith. The story line was engaging from the beginning and flowed with good timing. The humor is not going to be for everyone, but I often found it laugh-out-loud funny. Overall, while I can't give it a universal recommendation, it was an enjoyable film for those who appreciate the twisted British wit.
ingemar-4 With the average ratings this movie has, I expected little, but I found it delivering, and doing so very well. The family is really awkward to watch in the beginning, it is so totally dysfunctional, but its rebirth is convincing and moves us closer to the people - in most cases.I found the opening sequence particularly well done, where Rosie is presented with few words, more with gestures and pose, and what we see is a charming young woman with a dark secret in her trunk, and a strange attitude to it.Then this woman arrives to the dysfunctional family and saves it, in the most morbid way. The moral is hard to accept, which makes it good: Should the family just accept God's mysterious ways and take the good they get, despite knowing that much evil was done to give it to them.The weakest part of the movie is, in my opinion, the son. He is flat and simple, and the "solution" to his problems is also simplified. We never hear anyone trying to explain why four boys got their brakes sabotaged. He is never accused of it, and four boys were hurt, possibly rather badly.But that is a detail in the whole. Well shot, well played, mostly well written. It all sums up to a movie that grows increasingly beautiful, I moved from uncomfortable to entertained. It may not be for everybody, it is not a straight comedy but rather a morbid drama that will make us worried and insecure as much as laugh. You don't get Mr Bean-style slapstick from Atkinson (although I like that just as much) but much, much more subtle humor, which can be just as funny if you only notice them.
Cedric_Catsuits Super cast, and a classic British comedy plot involving murderous little old ladies. Maggie Smith fits the bill perfectly as the not-so-innocent old dear, ably ed by the uniquely talented Atkinson and his usual repertoire of expressions, and an on-form K-S Thomas as the bored wife. Tamsin Egerton provides the glamour and Swayze the sleaze.Set in a picture-perfect village full of quaint characters, the film rarely goes off-track. However, there are locations that are clearly hundreds of miles apart in real life, but merely a short car ride in the story. The geographical inconsistencies apart, these jumps from one landscape to a very different one also detract from the realism of the plot.It's a simple, mostly inoffensive tale despite the blackness of the comedy, with crime being suggested rather than graphically illustrated - except for a couple of instances, which I feel would have been better left out. There is also more nudity and sex than would have occurred in the golden age of British comedy, such as with Ealing in the 40s and 50s.Not bad then, but could have been much better.
jmatrixrenegade I basically used the summary of another review since it fits the film well. This film is seriously entertaining in a British sort of way. That is, it focuses on some quirky sorts doing outrageous things that on some level is not assumed to be that big of a deal. Well, at least, by some people in the film. And, it focuses on mostly average sorts, not "the beautiful people." Finally, as a bit of an aside, it has a comfort level with sex that American films often do not (I'm reminded of a Canadian film that I just watched -- "The War Bride," which had a think nothing of it full frontal nudity scene involving a bath. It fit the times and character and was not dirty or anything. Just run of the mill adult fare.) The film concerns a kindly but absentminded vicar (Rowan Atkinson, nicely low key here) in a small British town with a cutesy name, his wife loves him but is bored with their marriage, so is planning to have an affair. The wife (Kristin Scott Thomas, notably plain looking here) is in fact apparently an orphan. She is also having problems with her children, including her oversexed daughter and picked on son. A new kindly nanny (Maggie Smith, very good too) helps out here in all respects (including showing the vicar the charms of the Songs of Solomon), but turns out to have a secret.It's amusing, wickedly so often enough, and enjoyable on a character level. You like these people (well maybe not Patrick Swayze, playing a heel -- well he is American! -- perfectly) and that is part of the charm.
