40
Under his (Fry’s) direction this 2003 British feature becomes a flat, depressing affair.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
The New York Times by Dana Stevens
Waugh'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.
80
I 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.
50
An 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.
40
Aside 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.
75
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Both script and direction are the work of the glittering comedic polymath Stephen Fry.
60
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Peter Rainer
Fry'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.
50
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
By 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.