|

Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Bright Young Things
ThinkFilm Inc.
MPAA RATING: R for some drug use
Starring
Emily Mortimer,
Stephen Campbell Moore,
Fenella Woolgar,
James McAvoy,
Michael Sheen,
David Tennant,
Stockard Channing,
and
Guy Henry
Based on the classic novel "Vile Bodies" by Evelyn Waugh, this satirical comedy and love story is set in 1930's London.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Foreign
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Stephen Fry
Evelyn Waugh (novel Vile Bodies)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Stephen Fry
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: February 8, 2005
Theatrical: August 20, 2004
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
105 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
UK |

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...
90
Dallas Observer
Gregory Weinkauf
Fry establishes himself as an inspired, world-class talent behind the camera and delivers my favorite film of the year thus far.

88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The movie has a sweetness and tenderness for these characters, poor lambs, blissfully unaware that they're about to be flattened by World War II.

88
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
This is a wickedly funny skewering of a prewar London society gone mad with frivolity.

88
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
A brilliant, giddy satiric romp with a discreetly moralistic viewpoint beneath its high-style wit.

80
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
in its best moments, Bright Young Things is as lithe and as wicked as its source material. Depending on how much of a Waugh purist you are, its flaws may trouble you as you're watching it. But afterward, they might not matter so much.

80
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Waugh's dialogue, effortlessly catching the lockjaw intonations and facetious mannerisms of the British aristocracy between the world wars, is a gift to screenwriters and performers alike. The actors Mr. Fry has assembled receive the gift with gusto and grace.

80
Slate
David Edelstein
I could quibble with the conventionally romantic ending and a couple of small but not-so-cosmetic alterations, but on the whole, this is just how I'd always imagined one of my favorite comic novels should look and sound.

80
Los Angeles Times
Carina Chocano
As faithful to the spirit of the novel, and the era that inspired it, as a movie could be yet still feel as fresh as Paris Hilton dish on Page Six.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
A witty, energetic adaptation.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Fry's film has the frantic energy and kaleidoscopic style of Waugh's feverish prose.

75
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
Acridly funny.

75
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Both script and direction are the work of the glittering comedic polymath Stephen Fry.

75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
An enjoyable movie that marks a rattling good directorial debut for Stephen Fry, the English actor who's best known for starring in "Wilde" seven years ago.

70
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Engaging, energetic film.

70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
Essentially, the film stays at the party too long. But for a good stretch, its combination of twirling excitement and dry absurdity captures the spirit of characters too intoxicated to realize they're dancing over a chasm.

70
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
There's no denying that Fry's movie is all the livelier for its gay embellishment.

70
The New Republic
Stanley Kauffmann
The performance that comes closest to capturing the Waugh elixir is Fenella Woolgar's as madcapping Miss Runcible, who ultimately commandeers a racing car.

67
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
The film stumbles a bit in its third act, when war kills the good times for good.

63
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
It fails to dig beneath that surface picture and offer up anything in the way of explanation or motivation.

60
Film Threat
Daniel Wible
Fun, giddy, and intoxicating as the endless soirees in which it revels.

60
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
Fry's saving grace is his love of actors. The younger and less familiar performers are more than adequate, but it's the older guard that shines. Broadbent is marvelously rummy.

60
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Lacks the novel's drier-than-dry bite, but compensates with a strong ensemble cast and a series of glamorous party sequences in which the decor has at least as much depth as the guests.

58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Despite some moments, the movie stubbornly fails to be the kind of sparkling ensemble piece one would expect from its credits -- and the fault seems to lie squarely with Fry's unfocused script, lackadaisical direction and conceptual sleight of hand.

50
New York Post
Megan Lehmann
Ultimately, though, the lively whirl of debauched, drug-fueled parties and toffee-nosed exchanges between heiresses and aristocrats fails to mask the essential hollowness of the narrative.

50
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
By the time Fry lets darkness encroach on these bright young things, the fizz is gone, and so is any reason to make us give a damn.

50
Variety
Derek Elley
An easy-to-digest slice of literate entertainment for upscale and older audiences that lacks a significant emotional undertow to make it a truly involving -- rather than simply voyeuristic -- experience.

50
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Soon settles down into a drizzle of steady mediocrity, never living up to all the frenzy of those first few moments.

50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Worse still is his idiotic tampering with the so-called "Happy Ending" -- in print, it's bleakly ironic; on screen, incongruously sentimental.

40
The Hollywood Reporter
Ray Bennett
Noisy and giddy, the film makes a stab at "Moulin Rouge" territory but ends up as a very trite story of boy loses girl, boy finds girl. It is also stridently camp -- not so much roaring '20s as screaming.

40
Chicago Reader
Andrea Gronvall
Under his (Frys) direction this 2003 British feature becomes a flat, depressing affair.

40
Village Voice
Ed Park
Aside from cameos by Jim Broadbent (as the drunken major) and Peter O'Toole (as Nina's reclusive, eccentric father), much of the acting strains for a sophistication that quickly becomes annoying.

30
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
The movie, alas, is shackled somewhat by Waugh's original, pedestrian plot, which is too full of discrete incidents and slow to form an overarching story.


The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|