Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Fat Freddy'sCat I picked this one out as my number one selection from the range of movie offerings on the long Perth to Sydney flight. I did so solely because I saw the name of Stephen Fry in there, and it really did prove to be a top choice. The narration was pure Fry wit, and the gently-paced plot full of his humour, at times subtle, at times grotesque, and sufficient to keep me guessing how it would all work out in the end.Ted Wallace is weary beyond all human capacity for weariness of the mindless pap that is served up under the guise of 21st century "culture", and can hardly be blamed for seeking refuge in a bottle of whisky, or rather a great many bottles of whisky. Then out of the blue he is suddenly presented with his very own hero's journey, which he embarks on with great reluctance and reservation, but ultimately manages to see clean through the dense haze of crap.8/10 for a jolly good 90 minutes of that flight.

abbiedog2 This is a thoroughly enjoyable film. Surfing Netflix for something decent to watch when I chanced upon The Hippopotomus, having not heard of it. What a nice surprise! Delightfully funny and tender, without being soppy. The narrative was pure Frye wit...brilliant...smart and so funny. So nice to not be bored by stupid slapstick, but laugh out loud at the fab script. I just loved this film.

diggus doggus The Hippopotamus is based on a novel written by our local boy Stephen Fry, and that should tell you a lot about it, but it probably won't.The story is of Ted Wallace (Roger Allam), an old poet, brilliant despite his toxic personality and propensity for whisky. Fired from his job as theater critic, he meets an old acquaintance who proposes him an unusual job, to investigate the mysterious going-ons at an estate of a family he used to be friends with .. before he destroyed their relationship in a drunken fit. And Ted sets out to do his Teddish usual, but, being the perceptive soul he is, and fundamentally still a good man, he lays off the booze and unravels the mystery of Swifton Hall.The film is structured in the manner of the old Poirot films, with less focus on the mystery, and more on the interaction between the characters, and more importantly, class conflict, of which the film ... well, has some. The Hippopotamus is not a great film, i won't lie to you. It was a bad choice to pick this particular novel for the adaptation, because the story isn't really interesting and there aren't enough memorably moments, no great face-offs. The book itself was never meant to be a mystery thriller, but rather, a book of poems written in novel form. And the dialogue in The Hippopotamus is of absolutely stellar quality. It is, we could say, la raison d'être of the film, in its role of merely a platform for Fry's masterful compositions of the English language.As for the production, i found the soundtrack to the severely lacking. The film adaptation also demands a rewrite and some decent direction, and while this may require Effort(tm) i don't see why we need to stop at simply filming theater, since that's the very opposite of why films exist.You should watch The Hippopotamus, it's very well acted (with Roger Allen in top shape), occasionally funny, and contains at least one memorable line, but if you do watch it don't expect to be amazed; once the words hit the screen, you'll realize it's still only a book, and not A FILM.7.5/10 - if you want to do better, learn to use the camera.

hotstonemassage Was expecting so much better from R.Allam. His talent totally wasted on this putrefying portrayal of garbage. There is simply no rational need to offer "entertainment" of this caliber. If there is any motivation to try to influence an audience to accept nausea-inducing torridness along with cynicism about spiritual gifts it's failed miserably. Fry is allowing himself to be used by forces he doesn't understand.