Lela
The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
Haven Kaycee
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
Fleur
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
sgodrich
I went to see this movie when it came into the cinema in 1998. The preview was gut-bustingly funny. What was shown had to be the funniest film to come out in a long time. I eagerly awaited the release date, rushed down to the cinema and watched 94 minutes of the worst cinema I've ever had to see. Quite literally every funny moment was in the preview.Although the story in itself was quite amusing, I felt completely cheated by the promise not meeting the actuality. Maybe the film is worth a couple more stars but after what happened, I can't bring myself to award higher than a 3.
starbug1-1
This film is a glorious tribute to so many 'stiff' period pieces as well as such comedies as 'Carry on up the Kyber'. It is also beautiful to watch with real locations used in the UK, Italy and India (rather than at the back of Shepperton studios).While the plot may lag in some places, the references and in-jokes are so dense that you can blink and miss many of them.The list of movies and television series that are lampooned is massive, but a few include 'Chariots of Fire', 'Brideshead Revisited', anything with Helena Bonham-Carter, 'Upstairs Downstairs', 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Gandhi'.Peter Ustinov (Horace) letches like Sid James, Prunella Scales (Aunt Agnes) stands her ground like Joan Sims, Sam West (Edward) bumbles like Charles Hawtree and Robert Portal (Cedric) sneers almost like Kenneth Williams. Sean Pertwee (George) saves the day a la Jim Dale and Georgina Cates (Emily) is feisty like Barbara Windsor etc. etc.The scene where Cedric meets Aunt Agnes is priceless, if only for the 'Daughter of Zeus' gag.'Stiff Upper Lips' is definitely worth seeing more than once.
CyberSuze
Based on the title of this movie, I expected it to be a droll British comedy. Instead it was a laugh out-loud spoof of such films as A Room With A View, A Passage To India, Sense And Sensibility and others in that vein. I must admit that once I caught onto the joke it didn't seem quite as funny as it was at the beginning, but it was still one of the most amusing films I've seen in quite awhile.If you like British period movies and British humor, I highly recommend this one.
apostate
The parody has a long and glorious tradition. Some actors (Leslie Neilson) have made a career of such films. I had never seen an English parody of English films before, and if "Stiff Upper Lips" is typical of them, I probably won't want to watch another. From my perspective, the film presented an interesting dichotomy: Respected actors (Prunella Scales and Peter Ustinov), good location, nice camera work, expensive costuming... for an insipid piece of tripe. It was pretty easy to recognize the comic references to "Howards End" or "Room with a View" or "Chariots of Fire", but the references weren't funny. The people weren't funny. The comic timing was poor. The running joke of English class prejudice was clumsy and poorly executed.I think this film attempted something noble, but just plain failed in a few key areas. It had a lot of potential... the writers and director should watch a few classics in the genre (Blazing Saddles, Hot Shots, Loaded Weapon 1) before attempting their next parody.All that being said, I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and say my American sensibilities may have gotten in the way of understanding the "English" humor. But I have a sneaking suspicion people back in the UK questioned the quality of this one, as well.
