Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Richard_vmt The Knack is the pure spontaneity of youth on film. It isn't a laugh riot fed on stand up comedy, but a whimsical journey through life in London during the early 60's as seen by youth. The story revolves around the sexual striving of a staid young male teacher who contrasts his lot with that of a playboy acquaintance from whom he hopes to learn The Knack. Rita Tushingham, a country girl seeking to get a foothold in the city becomes his romantic salvation. The presence of Rita Tushingham on screen is itself a testament to the creative originality of the film-makers of the 60's. What an act of audacity to discover to the camera the unique beauty of this young woman with teeth which would conventionally have ruined her for a screen career! Her eyes are close set and her teeth are crooked but her loveliness is contagious.The Knack must be understood in historical perspective. You must remember that this movie is set just the other side of The Sexual Revolution. From the 40's into the 50's and 60's, magazines and news features fueled a popular anticipation for a revolution in moral values which was supposed to herald a tremendous improvement in emotional health for everyone. Concern and yet yearning is reflected in the ever-present background commentary of the older generation, which condemns, but also looks on wistfully. The two most often repeated complaints are !"Mods and Rockers!" but also, "I am bound". This was still a period when (in the United States) men gave up their seats to women--by which I mean routinely and universally. This was also the last gasp of an era when older people collectively superintended youth (through to marriage and in difficult cases, to parenthood) and commented on them critically in public. This practice has given way to stunned silence or use of the police as intercessors. It is the peasant earthiness of their idioms, overflowing with innuendo, which gives the film an amusing yet poignant backdrop for the antics of youth. Although the film makes reference to grass, it is innocent of the corruption and mystification of the Hippie Movement which would come shortly. Few films capture a period so effectively as this one. But no one should think watching it is an academic chore. It is a sheer delight.

RanchoTuVu A young and sexually frustrated school teacher rents out a room in his old house to a hip drummer with a motorcycle who is an expert at seduction in the hope of learning how he does it. Crazy editing and a haphazard style make it a challenge for those of us brought up on westerns and film noirs. A youth movie for the 60's with Rita Tushingham who seemed to embody that period of youthful British cinema, with a decidedly British humor and a take on society and sex, all wrapped up in the anarchy of free form movie making. Similar in style to Lester's "Hard Day's Night" but without the Beatles to carry it, this film relies more on the patience of the viewer, as it has a nice little story within the chaos.

rcraig62 Dick Lester really owes his career to the Beatles. I can't think of a single thing he's done without them that has any lasting entertainment value; The Knack is another enterprise in that vein. Lester, a one-time director of TV commercials, uses about the same technique in his features, a lot of trick camera work, blitzkrieg editing, curt, rapid-fire "dialogue" which is just a lot of clipped phrases passed off as conversation. The net effect is the same in both cases, Lester is trying to sell us the images- the plot, characters, etc. are all subservient to the next image or phrase Lester wants to run up the flagpole, ultimately each shot, each composition, each gesture, each catchphrase, has a sly life unto itself, and, when slapped together, really doesn't add up to much. The alleged plot of this sorry thing is an awkward schoolteacher/landlord (Michael Crawford) trying to learn how to score with women from his worldly tenant (Ray Brooks). This plot never gets off the ground in any way, it just degenerates into a lot of funky, dyspeptic action and unfunny (and often unintelligible) dialogue. There is not one bit of business in the movie that could be construed as funny, nor a single line of dialogue. And it didn't surprise me to note that the screenplay was written by Charles Wood, who was responsible for the pathetic screenplay for The Beatles "Help!" Wood seems eternally to be marketing his work for The Beatles. It's certainly no accident that Rita Tushingham is cast in the picture as a dead ringer for Ringo Starr. When one sees Crawford, Brooks, Tushingham, and Donal Donnelly in the same shot, we are watching a Beatles' sketch, and it doesn't say much for the material when one suspects that it would play far better for them than it does for these professionally trained actors. The performances are negligible at best, hysteria-ridden and squeamish at worst. People who compare this movie with "A Hard Day's Night" simply don't have a clue. HDN was intelligently written, with great characterization, and some memorable lines. Lester's so-called style was incidental to the proceedings. There is no joy in The Knack. No mirth, no verve. It is all technique. Dick Lester wants to bombard us with technique, miles and miles of it, until we are knocked flat by his sheer brilliance and wizardry. Unfortunately, clever technique does not a motion picture make. This movie plays like a ketchup commercial that won't end. It's not even silliness, it's an advertisement for silliness. That's how far removed Lester is to giving the audience anything resembling content. Complete and worthless garbage. 1/2 * out of 4

andyetris This is a manic Richard Lester comedy very similar to "A Hard Days Night," and if you liked that movie you'll like this one. It's a somewhat rambling froth-of-life tale about an awkward young man (Michael Crawford) who wants to learn how to pick up girls from his popular housemate (Ray Brooks). Brooks' attempt to instruct Crawford in the mysteries of the knack go hilariously awry when the pair encounter the flighty Rita Tushingham.I'm a little surprised that this won a Palme d'Or, but it IS very funny in a not-too over-the-top way. It's dramatically superior to contemporary early '60's comedy, and the principals turn in wonderful performances. If you like it, be sure to check out Lester's sunny nonsense "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and the distinctly darker "How I Won the War."