Food Of Love Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Not as bad as feared

The reviews for the cinematic release were blistering, but on the whole this film isn't as bad as I feared. Unfortunately the story it's based on deals with a number of interior states which, for obvious reasons, can't always be conveyed cinematically. Reducing the story to a narrative and changing some of the settings works moderately well, but it really is possible to get to the end of this film (especially I imagine if you haven't read the book) wondering, 'What was that supposed to be about?'

Juliet Stevenson is nowhere near as bad as some critics made out (look to the original character), but Paul Rhys doesn't make an especially charismatic star, and while this film can be moderately enjoyable, don't expect it to be great.

The Page Turner--A nice satisfying movie.

Paul (Kevin Bishop) is an aspiring pianist who finds himself a page turner for his idol, an accomplished classical pianist, Richard Kennington (Paul Rhys). The brief professional relationship becomes flirtation instantly, but Paul's manic mother, Pamela (Juliet Stevenson), gets in the way. Months later, on a trip to Barcelona, Spain, Paul and Pamela meet up with Richard again. This is actually initiated by Paul, who notices a poster for a concert just passed of Richard Washington, and Paul looks up (by calling every hotel in Barcelona) which hotel the concert pianist is at, and makes contact with his 'idol'.

The movie deals with Paul's relationship with his mother, his 'coming out', and more so, the growth of a potentially promising young pianist and glimpses of an accomplished one and his 'manager'.

I found that although the movie had certainly a strong 'gay' theme to it (well--it is about the relationship of a young man with an older one), it definitely was not THE movie, with many other things and nuances colouring the rest of it.

I enjoyed the movie a lot, and had read The Page Turner previously. I found that the movie was faithful to the movie.

As a final postscript, there were very mixed reviews of this by various reviewers. Some loved it, some hated it. Every one pulled out at least one of the actors (but not the same one!) as being poorly acted--the mother, the concert pianist, the young prodigy. I certainly found all of the characters very believable, and realistic for the roles they were playing. Each was complex, and I don't think any of them were parodies.

A thoughtful and interesting film (his first in English) by Spanish director Ventura Pons.

A must watch, very very good!!

I was surprised to see so many bad reviews for this movie, as it was actually very very good. Juliet Stevenson put in an excellent heart felt performance and Kevin Bishop is not only cute but very sincere. Don't listen to the bad reviews if you have a heart and enjoy romantic movies, you'll love this!!!

coming out and falling in love with your hero

your hero is not what you thought he would be. A page turner gets to turn pages for a pianist he has alway loved and adored. when he meets him again while on holiday - the pianist loves the attention and decides to take advantage but the mother has also fallen for the pianist too. what will happen? The pianist has a boyfiend and he also wants the page turner too. What happens! What follows is a very good film about first love and the reality of the gay scene and relationships for a large percentive of gay men. the film was interesting and I really wanted the page turner to be happy but does he find happiness. watch to find out.

Boring. Avoid...

Absolute dullness. Wooden acting, far-fetched plot. Avoid.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A Pleasant Drama lacking a bit of oomph

This is an interesting coming of age story. A promising young musician goes from being a closeted, insecure little boy to a manipulative seducer in the space of a few short months. The acting is pretty good, although Juliet Stevenson is turned up a couple of notches too high and some dramatic scenes, most noticeably between Richard and his manager after the surprise birthday party, aren't as satisfying as they could have been. But on the whole, worth a watch. As a bonus for fans of the bizarre, in a couple of scenes, Paul Rhys' makeup makes him look eerily like Michael Jackson. I presume this was unintentional.

[Highly rated reviewer]

3.5 would have been better.

This DVD is a pleasantly entertaining one. The love theme - whether it were to have been gay or straight, in this case gay - is handled well, complete with all the less than happy aspects that come with 'finding oneself'. A little over theatrical perhaps, but that is often the case with 'book/play' derived films. One to watch, if only to hear Kevin Bishop develop an American accent!

Food of Love

Dreary, turgid and predictable account of gay young man's 'coming of age'. The plot line is obvious from the opening scene and after that there are no real surprises or dramatic interventions.

nice movie

Very good performance from the different actors. There is a bit of everything: fun, sadness.

Really pleasant evening.

Dents de la Mere

Remember the scene at the end of Jaws where they put the tank of explosive liquid gas into the mouth of the shark and then shoot at it?

...well, that's what I'd like to do to Juliet Stevenson in this film. I had seen the trailer for this and it looked bad (due to JS's hysterics) but I thought I'd give it a look on rental. She almost destroyed the film.

The film started off very good but fell away after 30mins. It's almost as if it didn't know where to go.

Kevin Bishop is cute though. You can see a bit more of him (if you look quick) in the excellent French film, L'Auberge espagnole (available in the USA).