Truly awful
- Blithe Spirit review by DH
Ironically this film is about a screenwriter adapting a play. Shame the screenwriter who wrote this hadn't bothered to read the original script. Yes the names were the same and premis of Elvira returning was the same but just about everything else was wrong! It didn't even end the right way! I've been in this play and seen it countless numbers of times and the maid is pivotal. Nope not according to this. Totally ignored.
This should have been given another title as Blithe Spirit it was not! Judi Dench has played Madame Arcati at the Savoy so should have known better.
Didn't work!
4 out of 4 members found this review helpful.
Lovely house
- Blithe Spirit review by CP Customer
Lovely Art Deco house, fantastic clothes, but a poor rendition of Noel Coward’s sparkling play. They managed to make it dull and plodding which is quite a feat. And what happened to the revelation about the maid being an unconscious medium? It’s an important part of the original plot.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Why?
- Blithe Spirit review by KA
Not a patch on the Margaret Rutherford/Rex Harrison version. Very badly miscast (sorry, Dame Judi, but really...). Tedious in the extreme. Watch the earlier film version, or if you can, see it in the theatre.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Ok but could of been better
- Blithe Spirit review by TH
This film was alright but I do feel like I would have enjoyed it more if it was a play. Which is why as a film the tone didnt quite work. It's fairly watchable but couldnt give it more than 2 out of 5.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Awful & Pointless Remake
- Blithe Spirit review by GI
A pointless, tired and unfunny new version of Noel Coward's celebrated play. It's not a patch on David Lean's 1945 film. There is overacting, childish farce and no new perspective offered. It makes you wonder why anyone considered it was time for a remake. If you don't know the story it's set in England in 1937 and celebrated thriller writer Charles (Dan Stevens) has writer's block but the germ of an idea for a story means he needs to observe one of the fraudulent mediums who are popular so invites the eccentric Madame Arcati (Judi Dench) to hold a seance at his house. Against the odds she manages to summon Charles' deceased first wife, Elvira (Leslie Mann) from the grave who fully intends to hang around much to the chagrin of his new wife Ruth (Isla Fisher). As comedy ghost stories go all the ingredients are there for a very funny film but this one just isn't it. There is overacting and silliness that is groan inducing even though Judi Dench tries her best with the material. Lean's earlier film is very funny, this one just is dull and daft.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
The original is best :)
- Blithe Spirit review by JB
Isla Fisher is Hot, But she plays her character rubbish in this film. Dont rent this film, the original film, its better :)
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Oh dear
- Blithe Spirit review by SB
Although set in the 1930s, this version has a definite modern sensibility and does not gain from it. The performances are highly variable, and Dan Stevens is unfortunately not great as the author. Judi Dench plays Judi Dench in a silly costume. The design, costumes etc are nice. But the light, witty style of Coward is entirely lost.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
A fun film!
- Blithe Spirit review by giantrolo
This was a very jolly film that romped through Noel Coward's classic story. Very well casted, and fun to watch. Recommended!
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
A travesty of the original
- Blithe Spirit review by CH
This is a terrible film. The original was so funny and brisk, but this version somehow took every witty remark and every amusing circumstance and turned it into something crude and obvious. The details of the story were changed unnecessarily and the original sharp dialogue replaced by cliche-ridden and ungrammatical lines that Coward would have winced to hear. Such a disappointment.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.