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Relative Values
2000
Dame Andrews plays the aristocratic matriarch of an upper class British family whose eldest son (Atterton) causes an uproar when he announces his engagement to Miranda (Tripplehorn), a Hollywood starlet. The family is even more appalled when it is learned that she is the sister of the house maids. Luckily, Mr. Baldwin shows up .. Read more
| Starring | Julie Andrews, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sophie Thompson, Colin Firth |
|---|---|
| Director | Eric Styles |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Relative Values
Dame Andrews plays the aristocratic matriarch of an upper class British family whose eldest son (Atterton) causes an uproar when he announces his engagement to Miranda (Tripplehorn), a Hollywood starlet. The family is even more appalled when it is learned that she is the sister of the house maids. Luckily, Mr. Baldwin shows up from Hollywood to profess his love for Miranda and to try and woo her away from the English Lord and his stuffy family. An extremely witty farce, adapted from a play by the inimitable Noel Coward.
| Starring | Julie Andrews, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sophie Thompson, Colin Firth, William Baldwin, Stephen Fry, Stephanie Beacham, Edward Atterton, Gaye Brown, Michael Culkin |
|---|---|
| Director | Eric Styles |
| Studio | MOMENTUM PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 25 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 25 Mar 2002 Production year: 2000 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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Julie Andrews makes a big-screen comeback in this brittle adaptation of Noël Coward's comedy, shot on the Isle of Man with a sturdy British cast playing second fiddle to a pair of brash American interlopers. The narrative follows identical lines, with the unflappable Countess of Marshwood (Andrews) using all her feminine wiles to prevent her son (Edward Atterton) from marrying glamorous Hollywood starlet Miranda Frayle (Jeanne Tripplehorn). Miranda is, in fact, the sister of Andrews's personal maid, Moxie (Sophie Thompson), and arrives with her hell-raising boyfriend (William Baldwin) in hot pursuit. Snobbery and xenophobia are hardly the stuff of feel-good comedy, and director Eric Styles can't make Coward's creaky characters breathe on film. But Colin Firth and Stephen Fry play supporting roles with élan, while Andrews never puts a foot wrong.
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A play that was old-fashioned when it first arrived on the stage makes an even more old-fashioned film that is well-enough done but somewhat pointless; its impeccable construction provides some amusement.
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Most helpful member's review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Slight Comedy of Manners
It's plush, expensive, and set in a posh English countryside mansion and there's some truthful natural acting from most of the cast . . . but the trouble is Julie Andrews. There are moments when she almost succeeds in acting with the seeming naturalness of her co-actors but for most of the time she provides a wooden re-run of her regal stereotype. The inflections, the faces: they're all rooted in 'The Sound of Music'. Stephen Fry presents his stereotypical English butler. So with Andrew's centrepiece and the stereotypicality of the entire situation the whole effort is rather tired. However, it's innocent fun, apart from rather a lot of drinking on the parts of practically all but Andrews of course, and these days its hard for mums and dads to find plush films devoid of killing and sex so there is a niche no doubt for this period jaunt. Safe fun for young families and old folks of a timid disposition.
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Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
It's no Gosford Park but.....
Could have been far worse
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