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Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Paul Fraser
Shane Meadows
Directed by: Shane Meadows
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 29, 2003
DVD:
Running Time: 103 minutes, Color
Origin: UK / Germany / Netherlands
Summary
RATING: R for language
Starring Robert Carlyle, Vanessa Feltz, Ricky Tomlinson, Kathy Burke, Vicki Patterson, Shirley Henderson, Finn Atkins, Kelly Thresher, and Rhys Ifans
Patterned after a spaghetti western, this is the story of a small time crook (Carlyle) who returns to his hometown in the English Midlands to try to win back the heart of his ex-lover, who is being pursued by another man.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: A Room for Romeo Brass Dead Man's Shoes
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer 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...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It evokes the atmosphere of a Sergio Leone Western, sneaking up under the movie's human comedy and adding a smile.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Always predictable in its outcome, but it still retains a certain charm, mostly because of Meadows's cheerful sympathy and affection for his motley crew of characters.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
What really separates "Midlands" from Leone's desiccated, terse genre work is Mr. Meadows's doting attention to his characters' decency. It gives a demonstrative bittersweetness to a likable but small story.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
There are instances when the filmmaker tries for Western iconography and settles for ''Full Monty'' ingratiation.
Read Full Review >New York Post Megan Lehmann
Just Brit filmmaker Shane Meadows having some fun with the conventions of the spaghetti western.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Pure bangers-and-mash realism: a spotty yet ingratiating working-class farce that suggests a Mike Leigh movie with opera buffa tendencies.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Loren King
Meadows clearly has a flair for working with actors and for depicting the rough-and-tumble of ordinary provincial lives. If he could go just a bit deeper, the truly great Midlands movie just might surface.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
The film's best players can all be found in the supporting cast.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Often seems like a Mike Leigh movie viewed in a fun-house mirror.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
There are pages missing from this fable: Meadows reports that his financiers asked him to cut one-quarter of his original script just before production began, and his fondness for long takes sits uneasily beside the apparent gaps in the narrative.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
It's an interesting experiment that doesn't quite work.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
The sheer novelty of the enterprise is probably why Once Upon a Time in the Midlands has gotten so many rave reviews when it's actually sort of … middling.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
This movie's just so-so, but at its heart lies a true leading lady.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The story, which feels more like a sprawl of television episodes than a film, is a little tedious to sit through.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
It's a compelling and ambitious idea, but one that misfires because of its underwhelming characters and slack storytelling.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
Midlands finds some measure of success in its use of regular, real-looking people -- as opposed to the oddly glamorous characters who turn up in most romantic comedies -- but it's as though the writer used up all the personality traits before he got to Shirley.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
In the end, Meadows' film lacks the bite it needs to make us care about this oddball trio, endearing though they are.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The complications are predictable, as is the resolution; what keeps the film from sinking into its own inconsequentiality is the throaty-voiced Henderson, who can make the most preposterous behavior ring absolutely true.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
After 45 minutes of incomparable boredom, the movie gets slightly better when it stops reaching for cheap yuks and lets the actors do what they do well.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chad S. gave it a 7:
When "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands" pares down to its essential characters(this would be after bat meets car), strained comedy gives way to two declarations of love(one subtle and one loud) that cancels out the clown-beating and country music. Rhys Ifans gives an unsung performance as the sort of man Roy Orbison describes in "Running Scared". Like Alan Arkin in "13 Conversations About One Thing", he will be forgotten come Oscar time.
Diane Howe E. gave it a 7:
Great contemporary family tale of divorce and husband coming back later -- way later to try and get back into the family thing again. British humour style.
