Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

jokatebeattie Cannot recommend highly enough. A must-see. Such a gorgeous film – breathtaking and beautiful in every way and as moving as anything I have seen of late. Rich, sensual, dark, witty, charming, poignant and utterly mesmerising. Stunning cinematography, an exquisite score and the most captivating performances from Rhys Ifans, Charlotte Church and the rest of the cast. The production team have done such a beautiful job of portraying the text so truthfully and authentically whilst daring to be true to their bold and brilliant creative vision. I wish more filmmakers had the courage to do this. Because the result of not compromising is ending up with a piece of art that is as close to perfection as you can get - it gave me goosebumps and chills and I cannot WAIT to see it again.

FlashCallahan There are lots of tell tale signs when one has an infection that can exacerbate to sepsis.Tachycardia, hyperthermia, hypertension, increased respirations, and of course, increased confusion. To say that Under Milk Wood cause at least two of these symptoms isn't an understatement, from my point of view, it's a matter of fact.Imagine one of the later, more smuttier Carry on movies, and those saucy postcards you find at the seaside. Give them Ken Russell to think about for about a year, and what you have is Allen's cinematic interpretation of Thomas' art.Now I'm not too familiar with the poets work, nor do I claim to be the most cultured man alive (although I used to tape The South Bank Show), but I love the medium of cinema, and what Allen has put on the screen, stimulates visually.It's as if he's been subjected to the source material in A Clockwork Orange type way, and these are his subliminal thoughts of the source, poured on to the screen like the milk being poured into the stream.But it's an aural ordeal in some respects, the staggering amount of characters who appear to have been infected by other characters personalities and traits is pretty astounding.But when you boil it down to the nitty gritty of it all, it's all about having a bit of Rumpy Pumpy. Longing for days of old, and wanting to touch the untouchable, and it gets saucier and saucier as the film goes on. Some scenes even appear to have the spirit of Kenny Everett mess about with the mise en scene.So forgive me if I sound ignorant to the source, but as a film, it's pretty messy. Beautiful to look at, sometimes hilarious, sometimes down right scary, but it left me a little empty.Under the influence of some sort of chemical though,this could probably be the greatest piece of cinema ever made..........

andydavis I wouldn't say I was into blockbusters. I would consider myself quite an arty and cultured movie watcher. However, I really could not see the point of this poetry-fuelled romp through a post-war Welsh village. If I had to compliment anything, it would be the cinematography. But that cannot make up for the fact that the film is borderline unwatchable and thoroughly tedious. Though it seems well crafted, and clearly a lot of work has gone into making the film look pretty, I felt that all that had been achieved was a gilding of the jerry-pot.In the end, this film will prove of great value to scientists looking to explore the effects of narcolepsy and are short of subjects. I found it to be turgid, frustrating, unfathomable, pretentious and distinctly soporific.

georgelloyd The spirit of Richard Burton looms large over any rendering of Under Milk Wood: the actor's sonorous vowels, on display in what has hitherto been considered the definitive cinematic version from 1972, somehow seem to perfectly embody Dylan Thomas' effusive, garrulous poetry. It would be enough to put anyone off even having a go, but Rhys Ifans has stepped bravely up to the plate for this hyperactive, highly coloured adaptation directed by Kevin Allen. Under Milk Wood, famously, originated as a radio play that Thomas wrote for the BBC, and was first broadcast in 1954 after the poet's death. With its discursive verse style, it's a resolutely un-cinematic text, for all its evocative qualities: the addition of actual images, you would suppose, would be superfluous. Allen's version has stuck largely to illustration: Ifans speaks melodically over the top, with intricately structured scenes and tableaux doing the visual heavy lifting.As with the 70s version, directed by Andrew Sinclair, room has to be found for Thomas' multitude of comedy characters – Organ Morgan, Dai Bread, Willy Nilly, and all the rest – though fortunately the new film avoids anything as idiotic as Elizabeth Taylor's participation in the earlier film, playing passed-away good-time girl Rosie Probert. The nearest Allen gets to that is the celebrity casting of Charlotte Church as the alive-and-well good-time-girl Polly Garter; but Church is in fact pretty good in the role, a wholesome apple-cheeked type who gets up to all sorts in the woods. Allen's film comes across as a kind of fast-moving fever-dream – appropriately enough, given the swelling tide of fantasy that Thomas instills in the drama: everyone, and everything, is operating through a sweaty film of lust or delusion. Allen also amps up what you might call the bawdiness quotient: from the orgasmic yelps in the background of the opening dream sequence, to the continual incidents of jiggling and writhing, there's an entertaining Carry-On-ish edge to things that forestalls any hint of pomposity. With its energy and attack this is an Under Milk Wood that is funny and entertaining, and never gets bogged down.