Thompson (and another great veteran, Michael Gambon, who shows up as her estranged husband) and Waugh's wit are reason enough to revisit this Brideshead.
Comment
07/25/08
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Brideshead Revisited (2008)
64
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:127
Fresh:81
Rotten:46
Average Rating:6.1/10
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 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
[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
The movie may not be a masterpiece, but it makes for good theater all the same.
07/25/08
It's all rather unaffecting.
07/25/08
This version feels fairly condensed.
07/25/08
A great piece of work in a movie.
07/25/08
[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
Brideshead Revisited, it turns out, deserves a revisit.
07/25/08
Immaculately costumed, designed and set, the film recreates this cross-section of English high society to perfectioneates this cross-section of English high society to perfection.
07/25/08
No classic, but it does hold interest, in part by dealing honestly with the intriguing religious themes and in part for its fine cast.
07/25/08
It's like three movies - about a single book - in one
07/25/08
Merchant/Ivory with a fastidious political viewpoint
07/25/08
Maybe purists who are already up in arms about the alterations will stop and realize that it's a testament to just how incredible Waugh's novel was that, even with so many cuts and alterations, so much quality remains.
07/25/08
...concentrates on the Charles-Sebastian-Julia story to the detriment of many supporting players but without losing the novel's religious themes.
07/25/08
This is a world of dinner jackets and evening gowns, casual jaunts to Venice and Morocco; it's about elegance, style, money and perhaps too heady a mix of drink, religion and intrigue.
07/25/08
The 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 CriticThe film has all the appropriate period flourishes in production design, costume, makeup and hair. It is a stately piece of work that hits most of its marks.
07/25/08
Latest 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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