100
TV Guide Magazine
A rollicking comedic condensation of Fielding's sprawling novel about a lusty young man's adventures in 18th-Century England.
Tom Jones
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- United Kingdom
- 1963
- · 128m
Director
Tony Richardson
Cast
Albert Finney,
Susannah York,
Hugh Griffith,
Edith Evans,
Joan Greenwood,
Diane Cilento
Genre
Adventure,
Comedy,
Romance
Tom Jones, a bastard raised by Squire Allworthy, loves the beautiful Sophie Western, but cannot marry her due to the difference in their class. When the villainous Blifil tricks the squire into casting Tom out of his household, the young man goes forth into the world on a series of high-spirited, romantic adventures.
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What are critics saying?
100
USA Today by Mike Clark
Albert Finney and Susannah York look impossibly young and attractive, and it's easy to see how Oscar nominations went to four supporting performers; Richardson's chosen style, a self-conscious amalgam of silent films and the French New Wave, somehow worked when it shouldn't have - and still does, to my amazement. [13 Mar 1992, p.3D]
100
Empire by David Parkinson
If Tom Jones now feels something of a product of its times, it still deserves credit for attempting something new - no matter how derivative.
100
TV Guide Magazine by Staff (Not Credited)
A rollicking comedic condensation of Fielding's sprawling novel about a lusty young man's adventures in 18th-Century England.
90
The New York Times by Bosley Crowther
One of the wildest, bawdiest and funniest comedies that a refreshingly agile filmmaker has ever brought to the screen.
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jay Scott
With its wit, speed and bawdiness, it revolutionized screen comedy and influenced directors from Richard Lester to Francis Coppola. [05 Jan 1990]
80
Time Out
Osborne's courageous hatchet job on Fielding's 1,000 page classic novel and Finney's gutsy performance add up to produce an enjoyable piece of irreverent entertainment.
80
Time
The film is a way-out, walleyed, wonderful exercise in cinema. It is also a social satire written in blood with a broadaxe.
80
New York Daily News by Kate Cameron
A fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek movie about an engaging foundling.
80
Washington Post by Martie Zad
Much of the rollicking and wenching in the countryside of 18th-century England is crafted into the story line, giving ample humor to many scenes even before a line is spoken. [08 Mar 1992, p.Y6]
80
Time Out by Staff (Not Credited)
Osborne's courageous hatchet job on Fielding's 1,000 page classic novel and Finney's gutsy performance add up to produce an enjoyable piece of irreverent entertainment.
80
Time by Staff (Not Credited)
The film is a way-out, walleyed, wonderful exercise in cinema. It is also a social satire written in blood with a broadaxe.
75
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Tom Jones succeeded in large part because of its wit, its performances, and its energy.
75
Entertainment Weekly by Ty Burr
Screenwriter John Osborne and Richardson (both received Oscars as well) came up with a smart solution to the problem of adapting an 18th-century literary classic: Turn it into bawdy slapstick with generous helpings of then- daring sex and violence.
70
The New Yorker by Pauline Kael
Tony Richardson whizzes through the Henry Fielding novel, but he pauses long enough for a great lewd eating scene.
70
Variety
It has sex, Eastmancolor, some prime performers and plenty of action. Tony Richardson has directed John Osborne’s screenplay with verve, though, occasionally, he falls back on camera tricks and editing which are disconcerting.
50
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
Despite the fitful energy and the beauty of the settings, the ugliness of the mise en scene and the crudity of the editing tend to triumph.
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