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45
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71
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65
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xx
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43
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Brideshead Revisited
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 28 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Jeremy Brock
Andrew Davies
Evelyn Waugh (novel)
Directed by: Julian Jarrold
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 25, 2008
DVD: January 13, 2009
Running Time: 135 minutes, Color
Origin: UK
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some sexual content
Starring Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson, and Michael Gambon
A provocative and suspenseful drama, Brideshead Revisited tells an evocative story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in the pre-WWII era. In the film, Charles Ryder becomes entranced with the noble Marchmain family, first through the charming and provocative Sebastian Flyte, and then his sophisticated sister, Julia. The rise and fall of Charles' infatuations reflect the decline of a decadent era in England between the wars. (Miramax Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Onion (A.V. Club) Sam Adams
It's rare to find a work that explores issues of faith without veering into religious fundamentalism or militant atheism, which is reason enough to revisit Brideshead one more time.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
It shifts the focus from Charles and Sebastian's youthful idyll to the stronger, more provocative relationship between Charles and Julia, wherein lies Waugh's concerns with materialism and velvet-gloved dual grip of family and religion.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
It's a great piece of work in a movie that, whatever its failings, deserves to be seen even if you swear undying allegiance to the BBC mini-series.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
You could wish for more, but for that there's still the epic-length miniseries. If you want just two hours of mournful, lovely melodrama of manners, this is a fine choice.
Read Full Review >Variety Dennis Harvey
Offers lush and compelling drama drawn from Evelyn Waugh's beloved novel. Purists may blanch at the screenplay's changes to the source material's narrative fine points, but its spirit survives intact.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
The film, a distinctly secular take on Waugh's religiosity, is far more interested in the battle of blind faith vs. rigid unbelief and its devastating effects. Herein, everyone is complicated – by their station, their philosophy, their God – and everyone is complicit.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Often powerful, though presented throughout with British understatement.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
There are times when Brideshead Revisited shows its seams. For those with an affinity for this kind of movie - and you know whether this applies to you - Brideshead Revisited is a worthy, although not superior, motion picture.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
The film is plush and passionate and graced with elegant performances. Best is that of Emma Thompson as Brideshead's matriarch, Lady Marchmain, who resembles a cross between Helen Mirren's Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Benedict.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Overnuanced, a world of delicate cruelty, where most of the wounds take place without breaking the skin or even a sweat.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
The saga ultimately lacks the emotional wallop of the TV version. But its clever writing, strong performances and sumptuous production design make for a rich experience nonetheless.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
While elegantly mounted and well acted, the movie is not the equal of the TV production, in part because so much material had to be compressed into such a shorter time. It is also not the equal of the recent film "Atonement," which in an oblique way touches on similar issues.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The one performer who seems at home with the gravity of it all is Emma Thompson.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The real question is whether the film moves the "Brideshead" ball down the playing field in any meaningful way since the acclaimed miniseries. And I'd have to say that it doesn't so much advance it as it shrinks it into a golf-ball-size nugget.
Read Full Review >NPR Bob Mondello
This is a world of dinner jackets and evening gowns, casual jaunts to Venice and Morocco; it's about elegance, style, money and perhaps too heady a mix of drink, religion and intrigue.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
Though I can imagine Waugh rolling his eyes at the very idea of Brideshead Revisited as "a heartbreaking romantic epic," this remake is, often inadvertently, closer to the novel's spirit than the sepulchral television series, albeit still not half as waggishly Waugh-ish as "Bright Young Things," Stephen Fry's delightfully naughty interpretation of "Vile Bodies."
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
The remarkable thing about Jarrold's movie is how much of the book it manages to capture.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
Brideshead Revisited is untaxing, pleasant enough to watch. But I'm still waiting to be seriously discomfited by it.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Bound to seem, at best, a kind of CliffsNotes guide to the novel's highlights, especially if the casting is not all that inspired.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The new film seems a little nervous about the religious content; it's more interested in the swoony bits between Charles and Julia.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
As familiar as the costumes and decoration are, the conflicts are unsettlingly vivid and strange.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
This new Brideshead Revisted, though imperfectly revised, is not entirely regrettable.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Mark Olsen
That the film is neither a true triumph nor a total disaster makes it somewhat difficult to justify revisiting "Brideshead," apart from the hope it will inspire someone somewhere to pick up the book.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Although it has its involving moments, the watered-down Waugh fails to make any kind of lasting connection.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Albert Williams
Julian Jarrold's adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh novel isn't entirely faithful, but it conveys the book's universal themes.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle David Wiegand
A very noble movie, which makes it interesting at times, but not often enough.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The film plays fast and loose with the book, until its emotional depths, spiritual conflicts, and Waugh's discreet humor have been wrung out.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Jarrold's reduction of the story is so archetypal that it's indistinguishable from soap opera.
Read Full Review >Empire Angie Errigo
Okay for those who dote on ‘classics illustrated’ in the Merchant Ivory line, but not as fluid as all that.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Mr. Goode shows all the charisma of a stalk of boiled asparagus molded into the likeness of Jeremy Irons.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
May feel especially like a statue covered in drapery. Unfortunately, the movie's attempts to steam things up feel about as exciting as an after-dinner mint.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The world didn't need a superficial big-screen adaptation of a rich, dense book that's about, among many other things, the passage of time. The perplexity is why the film is so lifeless and remote.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 28 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Robert I. gave it a6:
Workmanlike, lush, but lacking tooth. Is our generation simply more insipid than the original, or addicted to Technicolor? Give us 8 more hours, in black and white.
Matthew M. gave it a9:
Fantastic period piece. A beautifully tragic story where religion, dying victorian values, social ambition, and a vastly changing world in the early 20th century are at odds.
pascaladolphejean gave it a5:
Although the production values are generally good, there is a clobber-you-over-the-head quality to the screen adaptation and some of the performances that make the film far inferior to the mini-series. Marginalizing the theme of old-world Catholicism in the lives of the characters was also a major mistake. At best, this version is a watchable costume drama, and not much more. Too bad.
Jay H. gave it a6:
Talky but exquisitely produced. Excellent costumes, art direction and cinematography. The acting is good as well, the director has a good style.
Seb Z. gave it a7:
Emma Thompson is absolutely amazing and the story of forbidden love and loss of innocence is beautifully told.
Waughmonger gave it a6:
If only Evelyn Waugh had been born 50 years later, so he could have been around to take advice from "Jackson" on plot development and "Bobbie" on characterization. That aside, the film is a disappointing adaption of a book that is structurally better suited to a television serial, as demonstrated by comparison with the classic ITV version.
Jackson gave it a0:
Terrible long drawn out movie. The story went nowhere. Can't believe anyone liked this trash.
