What's missing from Goode's performance and from the film as whole is the layer upon layer of accumulated motive -- the gradual evolution of a man's complex desires and even-more-complicated fears.
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08/01/08
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Brideshead Revisited (2008)
69
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:29
Fresh:20
Rotten:9
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Suspenseful and beautifully mounted, Brideshead Revisited does an able job condensing Evelyn Waugh’s novel.
Theatrical Release:Jul 25, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $6,359,742
Synopsis: Though director Julian Jarrold's adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh novel BRIDESHEAD REVISITED spans decades and continents, it's a taut film that never drags and can excite contemporary audiences.... [More]
Starring: Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson
Director: Julian Jarrold
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Reviews for Brideshead Revisited
Top CriticIf you're in the market for a veddy British drama and miss seeing Emma Thompson in her natural environment, Brideshead Revisited is a worthwhile two-hour meditation on faith (and the lack thereof).
07/31/08
Top CriticYes, it’s a compressed version, but I found it very enjoyable.
07/28/08
Top CriticIf it's a choice between the movie's 135 minutes or the 659 minutes of the miniseries, I'd say it's no choice at all. The shorter version is the one that seems long.
07/25/08
Top CriticThe saga ultimately lacks the emotional wallop of the TV version. But its clever writing, strong performances and sumptuous production design make for a rich experience nonetheless.
07/25/08
Top CriticDirector Julian Jarrold and writers Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies have not surpassed their predecessors, but neither have they done any lasting damage with their interpretation of the 1945 novel.
07/25/08
Top CriticA very noble movie, which makes it interesting at times, but not often enough.
07/25/08
Top CriticEven clothed in linen and flannel and tweed, the absurdities of Brideshead Revisited can never be entirely hidden.
07/25/08
Top CriticThompson (and another great veteran, Michael Gambon, who shows up as her estranged husband) and Waugh's wit are reason enough to revisit this Brideshead.
07/25/08
Top Critic[Feels] like a lot of other costume dramas. The phrase Brideshead Regurgitated creeps into mind.
07/25/08
Top CriticGauzy and unfocused. It suffers from too many rooms and not enough view.
07/25/08
Top Critic[Director] Jarrold seems too often to consciously be making an in-quotation-marks classy picture, much like last year's Atonement, in which the costumes and setting are just so, but the human drama gets lost amid the pictorial pleasantries.
07/25/08
Top CriticThis version feels fairly condensed.
07/25/08
Top Critic[A] lazy, complacent film, which takes the novel's name in vain.
07/25/08
Top CriticThe fine cast includes Emma Thompson as the siblings' gracious but domineering mother, and the location footage of the family's majestic mansion is stunning.
07/25/08
Top CriticThe film is plush and passionate and graced with elegant performances. Best is that of Emma Thompson as Brideshead's matriarch, Lady Marchmain, who resembles a cross between Helen Mirren's Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Benedict.
07/25/08
Top CriticThreaded through with ambivalence about class, religion and sexuality, Brideshead Revisited is overnuanced, a world of delicate cruelty, where most of the wounds take place without breaking the skin or even a sweat.
07/25/08
Top CriticA good, sound example of the British period drama; mid-range Merchant-Ivory, you could say.
07/25/08
Top CriticStill hard-hitting and dense, it's a film whose ideal audience consists of younger viewers who haven't seen the TV series and who therefore have nothing to compare it to.
07/24/08
Top CriticThompson, Goode and Atwell make for fine screen company, despite [Emma]Thompson's arguable miscasting.
07/24/08
Top CriticLatest News for Brideshead Revisited
January 27, 2009:
Milk Among GLAAD Nominees 
"Milk" has been a favorite on the awards circuit this year, and its hot streak has been extended courtesy of the GLAAD Media Awards, where it will compete in the Outstanding... More...
October 03, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: How To Lose Friends & Alienate People Does Just That; Whilst Brideshead Revisited Is Resisted
In the UK cinemas this week we have two literary adaptations with Simon Pegg as an irksome hack in How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, and Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited... More...
July 24, 2008:
Critics Consensus: File The X-Files Under "Disappointing"
This week at the movies, we learn that the truth is out there (The X-Files: I Want to Believe, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) and that step-sibling rivalry can be... More...
July 23, 2008:
Matthew Goode Talks Watchmen
He's out promoting Brideshead Revisited, but with a role in Watchmen, Matthew Goode knows what people really want to talk about -- and he was gracious enough to oblige Collider,... More...
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