Educating Rita

Name: Educating Rita
Genre: Drama, Comedy

United Kingdom · 1983
Rated PG · 1h 50m
Director Lewis Gilbert
Starring Michael Caine, Julie Walters, Michael Williams, Maureen Lipman
Genre Drama, Comedy

Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself so she joins an Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.

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What are critics saying?

Boston Globe by

If you were ever curious how a bad director can destroy the work of two talented actors and a slight, but funny, script, you need look no further than Educating Rita. [28 Oct 1983]

Chicago Reader by Dave Kehr

The film doesn't transcend its genre, but it's an honorable achievement within it.

Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

The plot is ''Pygmalion'' warmed over, but Michael Caine and Julie Walters give sparkling performances, and director Lewis Gilbert keeps the action humming along.

The New York Times by Janet Maslin

The essentially two-character play has been opened up to the point that it includes a variety of settings and subordinate figures, but it never approaches anything lifelike.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jay Scott

The achievement of Educating Rita is a function of the distinguished performances, the agreeably archetypal situation and the scissor-sharp lines. [23 Sep 1983]

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

Educating Rita, which might have been a charming human comedy, disintegrated into a forced march through a formula relationship.