64
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensWaugh's dialogue, effortlessly catching the lockjaw intonations and facetious mannerisms of the British aristocracy between the world wars, is a gift to screenwriters and performers alike. The actors Mr. Fry has assembled receive the gift with gusto and grace.
- 80SlateDavid EdelsteinSlateDavid EdelsteinI could quibble with the conventionally romantic ending and a couple of small but not-so-cosmetic alterations, but on the whole, this is just how I'd always imagined one of my favorite comic novels should look and sound.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumBoth script and direction are the work of the glittering comedic polymath Stephen Fry.
- 60Film ThreatFilm ThreatFun, giddy, and intoxicating as the endless soirees in which it revels.
- 60New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerFry's saving grace is his love of actors. The younger and less familiar performers are more than adequate, but it's the older guard that shines. Broadbent is marvelously rummy.
- 50Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversBy the time Fry lets darkness encroach on these bright young things, the fizz is gone, and so is any reason to make us give a damn.
- 50VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyAn easy-to-digest slice of literate entertainment for upscale and older audiences that lacks a significant emotional undertow to make it a truly involving -- rather than simply voyeuristic -- experience.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterNoisy and giddy, the film makes a stab at "Moulin Rouge" territory but ends up as a very trite story of boy loses girl, boy finds girl. It is also stridently camp -- not so much roaring '20s as screaming.
- 40Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderUnder his (Fry’s) direction this 2003 British feature becomes a flat, depressing affair.
- 40Village VoiceEd ParkVillage VoiceEd ParkAside from cameos by Jim Broadbent (as the drunken major) and Peter O'Toole (as Nina's reclusive, eccentric father), much of the acting strains for a sophistication that quickly becomes annoying.