Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 94
Fresh: 76 | Rotten: 18
Despite being a period piece, The House of Mirth's depiction of social cruelty still feels chilling and relevant for today.
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 6
Despite being a period piece, The House of Mirth's depiction of social cruelty still feels chilling and relevant for today.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 4,701
Adapted for the screen from Edith Wharton's much-loved novel of the same name, House of Mirth follows the fortunes -- or lack thereof -- of Lily Bart, an ambitious but financially imperiled young woman looking for a rich husband in early 20th century New York. The story opens as Lily (Gillian Anderson) takes tea at the apartment of Lawrence Selden (Eric Stoltz), a young bachelor lawyer to whom Lily is attracted but cannot marry because he is not wealthy enough for her liking. Lily stops at
Dec 22, 2000 Limited
May 29, 2001
Sony Pictures Classics
All Critics (110) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (18) | DVD (12)
Davies breathes fresh air through the wax museum corridors of the costume drama by finding behind all that stiff-spined pomp and circumstance the most venal of impulses.
This is very much Anderson's film.
Both literate and literary, it is serious without being humorless.
Anderson's great performance -- a study in stillness and reserve -- gets us through a story that is almost painful to watch.
Lovely to look at.
Plays more like Scenes From Edith Wharton's Novel than a dramatically involving adaptation.
A very worthwhile adaptation of Wharton's novel.
Everything about the film feels ornate but funereal, like an airless luxury suite on the last night of an affair.
Besides his remarkable ability to render a profound sense of past in all his films, Davies can uncannily map out the emotions of his characters via his mise-en-scene.
Ultimately, each passing minute equates to another cruel twist of the knife, and the audience cannot help but be riveted.
"I have tried. I have tried hard -- but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person." Great line. A little close to the bone, but great.
April 21, 2007Super Reviewer
it's a bit stiff in the execution and the bulk of it's power derives from wharton's novel: a woman of independent ideas is crushed by the 19th century. gillian anderson well deserves all the praise; however eric stoltz and dan ackroyd just seem odd in this setting. i cried a lil bit. love costume drama. i'm such a
October 7, 2008
Super Reviewer
| 35% | The Hangover Part II |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 81% | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| 44% | Cowboys & Aliens |
| 83% | Rise of the Planet of the Apes |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 88% | Lady and the Tramp |
| 69% | A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas |
| 21% | Fireflies in the Garden |
| 45% | The Rebound |
Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip
What are his 10 best movies ever?
See the all-new action-packed trailer!
Five new Marvelous pictures