Sweet Revenge
by Malcolm Mowbray
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Helena Bonham Carter, Kristin Scott Thomas, Martin Clunes, Rupert Graves, Sam NeillDirector: Malcolm Mowbray
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-02-13
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of Sweet Revenge
Movie Review: Clever punchy British black comedy
Summary: 4 Stars
Taking a cue from American ex-pat Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train, playwright Alan Ayckbourn penned the plays on which Sweet Revenge was based, in whith two strangers each agree to bump off the person causing him/her the most misery in their respective lives.
Of course Ayckbourn can't duplicate what Highsmith had already brilliantly done, so he starts things off with both parties being suicidal (definitely NOT part of the Highsmith story), then moves in very different directions from Highsmith indeed.
Malcolm Mowbray, the talented director of this movie, (he also directed another punchy black comedy, but set in the States, Out Cold--with Teri Garr, John Lithgow and Randy Quaid--highly recommended), has done a great job deftly blending wry British humor with black comedy (very black, indeed) as well as romantic highjinks and some outright guffaws.
When you see sparrows blithely flying around a living room, part of a huge mansion in which the younger son rides his motor scooter on a regular basis and the older sister (one of the two parties involved in the revenge pact) changes her appearance in the blink of an artistocratic eye, you can tell there's a lot of fun to be had.
And there is. Highsmith's story has no comedy whatsoever, but Ayckbourn is a master of this mesh of comedy and biting stuff, and that comes across beautifully in this film version. The acting by the three leads (Sam Neill, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Helena Bonham Carter) is great, with the definite nod for scene stealer going to Ms. Carter, who seems capable of doing basically anything in front of a camera (see Fight Club and Twelfth Night for radically different and consistently excellent performances).
A very nice piece of work. Recommended!
Summary of Sweet Revenge
Screen favorites Sam Neill (BICENTENNIAL MAN, THE HORSE WHISPERER), Helena Bonham Carter (FIGHT CLUB, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE), and Kristin Scott Thomas (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, GOSFORD PARK) form a winning combination in this offbeat, uncommonly funny comedy! Quite by chance a downcast businessman Henry Bell (Neill) and quirky aristocrat Karen Knightly (Bonham Carter) save each other's life just as they were both attempting to leap from London's Tower Bridge! Then, Karen quickly invents a plot of devilish retaliation against those who drove them to the edge! She will punish the man who stole Henry's job and he will destory the life of the woman (Scott Thomas) who broke up Karen's love affair! With memorable performances from its stellar cast, this broadly entertaining comedy plays for big laughs when revenge is the name of the game!As Henry Bell (Sam Neill from Jurassic Park and The Piano) is preparing to throw himself off the Tower Bridge in London, he hears cries of help, which lead him to Karen Knightly (Helena Bonham Carter, Fight Club, Howard's End), who has just thrown herself off of the bridge and gotten her belt caught on a protuberance. In short time they're telling each other what led them to take this drastic step, how they'd each like to kill a certain person who has made each of their lives miserable. Karen hatches a plan: They'll each take on the other's act of revenge. Henry's not so sure about this, but when he wakes up the following morning Karen's plans are already underway. She's fiercely determined that he keep up his end of the bargain and ruin the life of Imogen (Kristin Scott Thomas, The English Patient, Four Weddings and a Funeral). Unfortunately, Henry falls in love with Imogen instead, leaving Karen with no choice but to enact revenge on Henry as well. Adapted from a play by Alan Ayckbourn, Sweet Revenge is blessed with sweet and funny performances by the three leads (who seem delighted by the opportunity to be frivolous), as well as capable work from a supporting cast of British character actors. --Bret Fetzer
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