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Drowning by Numbers (1988)

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Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 11
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 1

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Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 3,800

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Movie Info

Peter Greenaway wrote and directed this typically surreal and iconoclastic black comedy. Three generations of women who share the same name -- 63-year-old Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright), her daughter Cissie Colpitts II (Juliet Stevenson), and granddaughter Cissie Colpitts III (Joely Richardson) -- have all discovered the same way of dealing with their marital problems. The senior Cissie has drowned her husband Jake (Bryan Pringle) in the bathtub, her daughter sent her spouse Hardy (Trevor

R, 2 hr. 1 min.

Drama, Comedy

Directed By: Peter Greenaway

Written By: Peter Greenaway

In Theaters: Sep 10, 1988 Wide

On DVD: Feb 26, 1992

Live Home Video

Drowning by Numbers Trailer & Photos

Cast

Bernard Hill
Henry Madgett
Joan Plowright
1st Cissie Colpitts
Juliet Stevenson
2nd Cissie Colpitts
Joely Richardson
3rd Cissie Colpitts
Jason Edwards
Smut
Bryan Pringle
Jake
Trevor Cooper
Hardy
David Morrissey
Bellamy
John Rogan
Gregory
Paul Mooney
Teigan
Jane Gurnett
Nancy
Kenny Ireland
Jonah Bognor
Michael Percival
Moses Bognor
Joanna Dickens
Mrs. Hardy
Janine Duvitski
Martina Bellamy
Jose Berg
Skipping Girl's Mother
Vanni Corbellini
The Hare
Roderic Leigh
Policeman
Natalie Morse
Skipping Girl
Edward Tudor-Pole
Mr. 71 Van Dyke
Arthur Spreckley
Sid the Gravedigger
Ian Talbot
Police Detective
Sharon Howard-Field
Michael Fitzgerald
Mr. 70 Van Dyke

Critic Reviews for Drowning by Numbers

All Critics (16) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (1) | DVD (1)

Its worth is drowned out by its obscurity and urge to make everything into an intellectual game.

October 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

tricky and extremely clever

April 5, 2005 Comment

Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

Though not the most visceral of Greenaway's films, it is a textbook art film, meticulously organized, and requisite viewing for obsessive-compulsives.

June 4, 2003 Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You

| Comment

Rumsey Taylor

Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Stylish, adult entertainment from Greenaway

August 21, 2002 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Quintessential Greenaway.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews

| Comment

David N. Butterworth

rec.arts.movies.reviews

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Audience Reviews for Drowning by Numbers

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I found this too be odd and entertaining. Dark comedy about three women who drown their husbands. Deranged ladies. Not for everyone, but I think it was pretty funny.

September 21, 2011

Kenny Scheck

This is the film that made me a hardcore Peter Greenaway fan, and I think it is just as good as "The Cook...." and The Pillow Book. Combining numerological whimsy with a plot about spousal relations and murder is brilliant enough, but then it's also typical Greenaway: brilliant acting and directing, with an amazing visual sense.

February 12, 2007