Cold Comfort Farm
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Movie Reviews of Cold Comfort Farm
Movie Review: Funny, engaging, witty and absolutely brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
Any fan of Jane Austen's will appreciate this film's charm and sparkling wit. It is one of my favorite films ever! I saw this at an arthouse theater in Denver and everyone (including me) in the audience was roaring with laughter.The story centers around the outspoken, feisty and newly-orphaned Flora Poste (aka Robert Poste's child), who moves from London to live with her rural, backwoods relatives in Cold Comfort Farm. Led by her mysterious great-aunt Ada Doom, her relatives prove to be absolutely eccentric and incredibly funny. Among her other quirky relatives are Amos Starkadder (Ian McKellen), his wife Judith (Eileen Atkins) and their children Seth (Ivan Kaye), Reuben (the hunky Rufus Sewell in one of his most memorable roles) and Elfine (Maria Miles). Then there is Flora's sophisticated London friend Mary Smiling (Joanna Lumley) who provides Flora with some much needed comfort, advice and fashionable magazines.
With a role that foreshadows her future role in Jane Austen's "Emma", Kate Beckinsale perfectly embodies a 1930s-like Emma Woodhouse role as she interferes in the lives of all of her relations and completely makes them all over. This doesn't bode well with her great-aunt Ada and cousin Judith, who abhor change of any sort.
It is a riotous film all the same and the brilliant performances from everyone involved make this DVD an absolute must have! If you enjoy British humor and satire, you'll love "Cold Comfort Farm!"
Movie Review: Nobody does eccentric like the Brits!
Summary: 5 Stars
The first time I watched Cold Comfort Farm, I thought it was OK, kind of like the reviewer who said "I guess this was meant to be funny". The characters Miss Flora Poste (aka Robert Poste's child) encounters at and around Cold Comfart Form(let's call it CCF) are flat out WEIRD. Being accustomed to period pieces like Merchant Ivory things, I missed much of the point. Now, I realized CCF should have been viewed with some of my P.G.Wodehouse-jaundiced(btw, Stephen Fry[Jeeves]is in this), "Merry Buds Of May"-loving eye. The whole cast is perfick! and Joanna Lumley(best known as Patsy in "Absolutely Fabulous!") seems to own the franchise for playing a semi-idle, terminally hip fashion slave. No matter if it's the 30's like CCF, or the 90's, Ms Lumley has it nailed. I had no idea who played Flora Poste, and was astonished to see it was Kate Beckinsale, who was dressed down for this role. I happened to be watching a bio of Sir Alec Guinness, and one of the interviewees was Eileen Atkins. I couldn't place her face, but suddenly I realized she was in CCF(as the terminally depressive Judith Starkadder). I clicked over to my movies listings, & was able to turn my Mother & sister on to CCF the next day. If you like British humour, check this out. If you've seen this & didn't care for it, do yourself a favor & give it another chance.Movie Review: Delightful!
Summary: 5 Stars
Cold Comfort Farm is the type of sly, witty ,humane,eccentric type of comedy that Americans don't make and the British do superbly! A satire on gloomy English novels this movie is fun even if you don't recognize all the characters or novels that are being satirized. ( I was clueless) on most).
This movie charms , delights, and surprises from beginning to end!
All the acting is wonderful but special praise must be devoted to the luminous presence and great acting of Kate Becksindale! This is the first film of hers that I saw and I have never forgotten it or her!
Get this movie ,enjoy & share with friends but whatever you do- don't look out in the shed - 'ya might see something nasty out there!"
One other warning: At times this movie is a reminder of the old saying that America & Britain are two nations separated by a common language. I found some phrases and accents tough to understand at times but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the movie.
Movie Review: Comic Classic Brought Flawlessly to the Screen
Summary: 5 Stars
Cold Comfort Farm is a hilarious film that is remarkably faithful to the plot (one character does ends up with a different mate than in the book but it actually makes more sense) characters and spirit of the novel. The film is perfectly cast. Kate Beckinsale is especially good as our heroine, Flora Poste, who is unflappable and efficient at tidying up the many messes at Cold Comfort. Ian McKellen is also unforgettable and hysterically funny as Amos, the fire and brimstone preacher/farmer. All the other actors fulfill their roles well and without a hint of the self-consciousness too often seen in film satires. The British accents are sometimes a bit difficult for Americans to understand but fortunately the DVD comes with close captioning so the viewer doesn't miss a word of the clever script. The special features are almost nonexistant except for the trailer and a couple of "recommendations" but who cares when the film is so special and enjoyable?Movie Review: Both amusing and diverting.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my very favorite little films. Friends come over and want to borrow a DVD and ask - "what's good?" I tell them "Cold Comfort Farm." They invariably return it with high praise and hearty thanks for having turned them on to it. This is a wonderful spoof of Jane Austin, full of indelible characters and performances. Joanna Lumley is divine as Mrs. Smiley. Eileen Atkins (every bit as good here as she was in "Gosford Park"), Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry are wonderfully broad and eccentric. John Schlesinger directed a number of fine films including "Billy Liar," "Darling," "Far From the Madding Crowd" (another favorite of mine), "Midnight Cowboy" (for which he won an Oscar), "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Day of the Locust" and the underrated "Madame Sousatzka." "Cold Comfort Farm" was his final 'great' film and deserves to be acknowledged as such. Don't miss this almost forgotten gem.