As so often with adaptations of Williams, it frequently errs on the side of overstatement and pretension, but still remains immensely enjoyable as a piece of cod-Freudian codswallop.
Comment
06/24/06
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
100
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:30
Fresh:30
Rotten:0
Average Rating:7.8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: This is the classic cinematic version of Tennessee Williams's breathtaking play about a crazed southern family torn apart by greed. Larger-than-life patriarch Big Daddy (Burl Ives) lays dying, and... [More]
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Judith Anderson
Director: Richard Brooks
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Reviews for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Bolstered by extraordinary performances, this tale’s a summer sizzler.
03/10/03
Still, this potentially over-scrubbed production kept enough of Williams' energy and poetic Americana intact, fleshing it up with an ensemble of career-imprinting performances and MGM production lavishness.
04/30/06
A mousetrap with teeth that grip and a musky atmosphere of frustrated sex and milky desperation that serves as poisoned bait.
06/26/06
What a pack of trashy people these accomplished actors perform!
05/20/03
Top CriticCat On a Hot Tin Roof (1958) is the powerful, highly-charged, moving story of a neurotic, dysfunctional Southern family
01/01/00
Burl Ives and Judith Anderson are highly entertaining as the nightmare parents, Big Daddy and Big Mama, and Jack Carson has one of his last good roles as Newman's competitive older brother.
04/08/08
Top CriticThematically, Richard Brooks' screen version of Williams' play is compromised (no mention of homosexuality), but it's well directed and deftly acted by Paul Newman and Liz Taylor (both at their sexiest), and especially Burl Ives as Big Daddy.
02/07/08
Two of cinema's most iconic stars on top form make this worth a good look.
08/16/01
...the dialogue is so absorbing and the acting so intense, we hardly notice that 108 minutes go by or that there is a whole lot less to the plot than meets the eye.
05/01/06
An intense, important motion picture.
04/08/08
Top CriticThis is a classic for good reason; it stands repeated viewing.
01/01/00
The performances are the thing in this film version of the Tennessee Williams stage triumph, led by Ives, repeating his stage role like a force of nature.
04/08/08
Top CriticDirector Brooks skilfully elicits the best from his performers and script with the result that there were Oscars nominations for all concerned.
04/08/08
Top CriticA formaldehyded tabby that sits static while layer after layer of its skin is peeled off, life after life of its nine lives unsentimentally destroyed.
10/01/08
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/13/02
No review available.
12/17/02
No review available.
11/15/03
No review available.
08/22/03
No review available.
04/13/05
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