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Enchanted April (1992)

tomatometer

82

Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 28
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 5

Mike Newell's adaptation of Elizabeth von Arnim's moves at a more generous pace than the 1935 version, allowing excellent performances from Miranda Richardson and Joan Plowright to flourish.

71

Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 2

Mike Newell's adaptation of Elizabeth von Arnim's moves at a more generous pace than the 1935 version, allowing excellent performances from Miranda Richardson and Joan Plowright to flourish.

audience

80

liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 7,159

My Rating

Movie Info

Previously filmed in 1935 with Ann Harding, Enchanted April, a romantic novel by Elizabeth, was remade in 1992. The first film skips along superficially at 66 minutes: the second, directed by the always intriguing Mike Newell, runs 101 minutes, allowing for richer characterizations and a bottomless reserve of brilliant dialogue. Two cloistered, married English women (Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson) impulsively rent an Italian villa and embark upon a vacation without their spouses. They are

PG, 1 hr. 33 min.

Drama, Romance, Comedy

May 5, 2009

Miramax

Cast

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (7) | DVD (4)

In a raucous movie summer, this is a film for those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine, and a recollection of a time when women and movies could be purveyors of enchantment.

May 27, 2011 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Strong cast's reliable playing is undercut by a script that dawdles over well-trod territory.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The ladies are well bred, the scenery is lovely and the dialogue is polished and polite. It helps that the same villa in Portofino where Miss von Armin wrote the novel has been used to fine effect as the film's principal setting.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Is it fair to ask why usually sophisticated Americans turn to mush over this particular variety of moribund ersatz art?

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
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Personalities clash but are cheerfully reconciled, and marital tensions are swiftly resolved.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It would seem from a spate of films lately that the English can only find their warmer, truer selves abroad -- usually in Italy. Enchanted April takes this familiar path, but traipses along with charm and glory, as if for the very first time.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The whole thing seems like it was dreamed up during a sleepy afternoon by the Italian seaside, and is guaranteed to put viewers into a similarly soporific state.

May 27, 2011 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

An undeniably pretty but ultimately vacant period drama.

May 27, 2011 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Elegant period film explores deep emotions.

February 17, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

It reminded me of the introspective but otherwise soft-hitting stories that my mother reads in her monthly book club. It's a rich film, but not the kind of rich that I like.

August 16, 2009 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comment
7M Pictures

Thematically, Mike Newell's film is similar to A Room With a View, focusing on the liberating impact of an Italian vacation on repressed, downtrodden Brit femmes, well acted by Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson and Polly Walker.

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

There are so many well-acted, well-filmed movies that charm, I found myself wondering why this one didn't.

June 7, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

One can't help but start planning a vacation immediately after the film ends

May 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com

The disc's sole special feature is a full-length audio commentary by director Mike Newell and producer Ann Scott, unless you count a collection of movie trailers.

May 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

Like April weather most places north of the Mediterranean, this one is lukewarm, at best.

May 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

... behind that precious romanticism is a genuine commitment to this emotional renewal.

May 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Parallax View | Comment
Parallax View

Personalities clash but are cheerfully reconciled, and marital tensions are swiftly resolved.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Exquisite -- it will bloom inside you the way Italy blooms inside the characters.

July 20, 2003 Comment
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Beautifully filmed and acted with a pleasant, wry sense of humor about it. Mirand Richardson shows why she is one of our greatest living actresses.

November 27, 2002 Comment
Star Newspapers (Chicago, IL)

Pleasant, but awfully thin

October 2, 2002 Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Enchanted April

A period 'romantic comedy' with an amazing ensemble cast. Funny, romantic and a little magical. THe Italian countryside is GORGEOUS!

March 21, 2008
RCCLBC
Robert C

Super Reviewer

charming

April 19, 2007
jjnxn
jay nixon

Super Reviewer

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