| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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Wonderful historical drama
by Stephen (movies profile)
Sep 13, 2006
1
of
1 people found this review helpful
This wonderful movie has been ignored by people for far too long.
Robert Bolt has done a superb job of "opening" up his play with a wonderful adaptation. Most of the dialogue is like poetry, it has a wonderful sound to it. His representation of More as a moral, yet not righteous or pious man, walks the delicate balance between someone who stands for his beliefs, and a man who caves into the popular beliefs of the public is skillful and well written.
The performances are brilliant, also. Led by Paul Scofield, as Thomas More, each cast member (even Vanessa Redgrave in a cameo) is realistic. I particularly liked Robert Shaw, who plays Henry VII as a petulant child, complete with boorish behavior and temper tantrums. But it is Scofield who is the obvious standout. Every nuance of his performance is true to the character. the viewer can sense that they are seeing the real man, not just an actor playing a character.
The only slight drawback for me was Orson Welles. I missed most of the scene he was in in the beginning, because I was distracted at how horrible he looked.
9 out of 10 |
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