Don't expect Rowan Atkinson in full Bean or Blackadder flight: this is much more delicate Country Life comeuppance at the hands of a deliciously dark fairy godmother.
Keeping Mum (2006)
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Reviews Counted:85
Fresh:48
Rotten:37
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: The stellar cast, including Kristin Scott Thomas and Dame Maggie Smith, is certainly an asset, but this black comedy is too uneven.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language and some sexual content/nudity
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Sep 15, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $1,467,021
Synopsis: KEEPING MUM stars Atkinson as an absent-minded vicar of a rural parish who is so distracted by the pressures of his job that he fails to notice his wife's (Thomas) dalliance with her brash golf... KEEPING MUM stars Atkinson as an absent-minded vicar of a rural parish who is so distracted by the pressures of his job that he fails to notice his wife's (Thomas) dalliance with her brash golf instructor (Swayze), his daughter's parade of new boyfriends, and his young son's regular trouncing by the school's bullies. Enter their charming new housekeeper, Grace (Smith), the answer to the family's prayers: a sweet, grey-haired old lady with her own distinctive definition of cleaning house. One by one, the family members find that Grace is able to solve their problems, but they don't realize that her means are leading to a lot of ends and the population of their sleepy hamlet is rapidly diminishing. --© THINKFilm [More]
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Patrick Swayze
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Patrick Swayze, Tamsin Egerton, Toby Parkes, Liz Smith, Emilia Fox, James Booth
Director: Niall Johnson
Director: Niall Johnson
Screenwriter: Niall Johnson, Richard Russo
Composer: Dickon Hinchliffe
Studio: ThinkFilm
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Reviews for Keeping Mum
Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean") plays straight-man Reverend Walter Goodfellow to Grace Hawkins (acted with keen wit by Maggie Smith) his genteel serial-killer housekeeper in this delicious British black comedy.
An insufferable British dark comedy in the tradition of other happy-horseshit classics
The problem with Keeping Mum is that the slaughter is very real and, worse, the victims are often innocent or otherwise undeserving of their fate.
I would have loved for these characters to have a different plot to stretch out in. However, this story is obvious, pedestrian, warm and pleasant, but mostly a tragic waste of some tremendous resources.
It has all the edge, darkness and wit one expects from the storied genre of British dark comedy.
Director Niall Johnson, who collaborated on the script withRichard Russo deserves kudos for maintaining the tenor and tone of the film. A black comedy such as KEEPING MUM requires a very specific touch and Johnson handles the material with aplomb.
The British countryside provides a pretty framework, unfortunately the picture inside doesn't fit the bill.
...the film gets by -- just barely -- on the powerhouse combination of Atkinson, Thomas and Smith...
The warped fun is enhanced by two performances — one that is expected and one that's a delightful surprise.
...Features a great cast and a witty script that should help it appeal to even those who aren't as enamored of British films as I am.
I'll match Grace's way with a meat cleaver and a shovel against Mary's spoonful of sugar every time.
There's something immoral about a film that asks us to chuckle at the naughty murders of innocent people and then expects our hearts to swell when a husband and wife affirm their holy union. 'Saw III' has more integrity.
One of those frothy films photographed in the quaint English countryside that yearns to be a word-of-mouth hit, but is too thin and predictable when it should be rich in nuance and off-kilter.
...a disappointingly pat bit of Brit comedy that suffers by comparison to the postwar black Ealing comedies it evokes.
The Ealing of yore is gone, and Guiness, ex-ladykiller, is now and forever, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Here's mud in your eye.
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