Customer Reviews

Cause Celebre

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Helen Mirren can always dazzle; all these Brits are so well trained but this vehicle is not up to their talents. David Morrissey looks promising, but is uneven in this part. He's good playing innocent but I didn't buy his character's evil side. It may be the fault of the screen play. They managed to take an interesting (true) story and totally muddle it. I'd love to see this re-made for the big screen.

And I love just about anything they star in. But then the story is quite good too. Mirren's a convincing cougar in this older woman-younger guy caper. If you like H. Mirren and D. Suchet, you'll enjoy this movie for those two reasons alone.

I really enjoyed this movie. My husband had purchased it in a resale shop and we watch it when our cable was off. I especially enjoyed Helen Mirren. You can't go wrong when she is in a film. I looked up the actual story and I think they depicted the story well. It is another case where if these two individuals (Helen) and the young boy (George Stoner) hadn't met, there wouldn't have been a murder. Even though she was found innocent of the actual murder, the public felt she was responsible. She couldn't live with the gossip or remorse and killed herself. She had two young sons to live for but it wasn't enough for her to fight for. She seems to have been somewhat a weak individual but she also was awarded a medal for bravery in WWI. So how can you tell. Mr. Stoner (the young man) was released after 9 years and lived to the ripe old age of 83. Maybe she should have thought twice before she killed herself.

If you are thinking about watching this movie, just be aware that it is NOT a murder "mystery" as such. Unfortunately, I got it thinking it was more of an Agatha Christie type story, and spent the entire time trying to figure out who really "done it." I was very disappointed when the typical twists and turns of a true mystery didn't materialize.

If my expectations had been different, I might have enjoyed this movie more. The set design was superb, as was most of the acting and the dialog (although, without subtitles, the British accent was a bit difficult for me to understand at times). But, on the other hand, I might have been disappointed anyway, since the story is somewhat disjointed and I never bought into the relationships between the characters (the two mismatched lovers, the husband and wife, the wife and 'companion' etc.)

The story might have been true, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good movie.