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Previous Engagement, A
Buccaneer Films

Previous Engagement, A reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 46 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
N/A out of 10
based on 8 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 0 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Tchéky Karyo, Tcheky Karyo, Daniel Stern, and Valerie Mahaffey

When Seattle librarian Julia Reynolds talks her unadventurous, jigsaw-obsessed husband, Jack, into a once-in-a-lifetime vacation on the Mediterranean island of Malta, she has a secret agenda: a date made 25 years earlier with her first love, Alex. But she's stunned when the sexy Frenchman not only shows up, but insists she's his true love, even though he brought his latest young girlfriend along. Did they really live the wrong lives? When Alex storms their holiday villa shouting his love, fantasy becomes reality. What happens when your husband discovers you've been sneaking kisses under the bed with an old boyfriend? The absent-minded, flat-footed insurance man takes action, transforming himself into a new man and getting dance lessons inside and out of the bedroom from an ex-chorus girl. With one last day in Malta, Julia must choose between the husband she never really knew and the man she's dreamt of for 25 years. (Buccaneer Films)


GENRE(S): Comedy  |  Romance  
WRITTEN BY: Joan Carr-Wiggin  
DIRECTED BY: Joan Carr-Wiggin  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: May 9, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Canada | Malta | UK 

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...

75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
While this slow-starting update of "Private Lives" has plenty of laughs, the incredibly expressive (and too-seldom seen) Stevenson turns Julia's romantic dilemma into something genuinely moving. She makes A Previous Engagement something special.
Read Full Review
70
Variety John Anderson
Stevenson casts her usual magic in this frankly adult, determinedly lighthearted comedy of romantic errors.
Read Full Review
50
LA Weekly Tatyana Gershkovich
Stevenson manages to deliver a few poignant moments of nostalgia for the pleasures of youth against the stunning backdrop of the Maltese coastline.
Read Full Review
50
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
I'm not big on those Pauline Kael-style encomiums to great actors in mediocre material, but that's exactly what we've got here. Stevenson is so incandescent -- so funny, so vulnerable, so awkwardly sexy.
Read Full Review
50
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Even Stevenson, a singularly accomplished and versatile actress, can't do much with Julia's early scenes, in which she's forced to dither around like a complete idiot.
Read Full Review
40
The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis
More tired than the fantasy it promotes, A Previous Engagement aims at middle-aged women with the subtlety of a pitch for bladder-control medication.
Read Full Review
40
Los Angeles Times Robert Abele
A dreary experience.
Read Full Review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason Anderson
Though frantic from the get-go, A Previous Engagement rarely finds its feet. Devoid of the fine balance of grace and chaos necessary to any screen farce, the proceedings are slapdash, repetitious and badly overextended.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

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