Keeping Mum (2005)
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 85
Fresh: 48 | Rotten: 37
The stellar cast, including Kristin Scott Thomas and Dame Maggie Smith, is certainly an asset, but this black comedy is too uneven.
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 11
The stellar cast, including Kristin Scott Thomas and Dame Maggie Smith, is certainly an asset, but this black comedy is too uneven.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 21,768
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Movie Info
Niall Johnson's comedy Keeping Mum concerns the family of a vicar who are beset by a variety of problems. Reverend Walter Goodfellow (Rowan Atkinson) is a well-meaning but hapless religious figure in his town. His son, Petey, is a wimp, forever terrorized at school. His daughter, Holly, enjoys the company of a variety of different boyfriends. Wife Gloria (Kristin Scott Thomas) has had enough of her husband and is considering leaving him for a golf teacher (Patrick Swayze). The family starts to
Cast
-
Rowan Atkinson
Reverend Walter Goodfel... -
Kristin Scott Thomas
Gloria Goodfellow -
Maggie Smith
Grace Hawkins -
Patrick Swayze
Lance -
Tamsin Egerton
Holly Goodfellow -
Toby Parkes
Petey Goodfellow -
Liz Smith
Mrs. Parker -
Emilia Fox
Rosemary "Rosie" Jones -
James Booth
Mr. Brown -
Patrick Monckton
Bob pond workman -
Rowley Irlam
Ted pond workman -
Vivienne Moore
Mrs. Martin -
Murray McArthur
Vicars' Convention Mast... -
-
Morgan Gower
Reverend Campbell -
Rupert Simonian
Billy Martin the bully -
Alex MacQueen
Train Ticket Colllector -
Paul Viragh
Policeman on train -
Anthony Denham
Police Interrogator -
Roger Hammond
The Judge -
Thomas D. Jones
Mark boyfriend 1 -
Jack Ryan
David boyfriend 2 -
Nazim Kourgli
Grant The Goth Boyfrien... -
Jack Zimmerman
Jeremy Z boyfriend 4 -
Terry Alderton
TV Chat Show Presenter -
David Schaal
TV Chat Show Pundit -
Chrissie Cotterill
TV Chat Show Pundit -
Rory Dorling
Billy Martin's Gang -
James Galloway
Billy Martin's Gang -
Max Murley
Billy Martin's Gang -
Kelly
Clarence the Dog
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Keeping Mum Trailer & Photos
All Critics (91) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (37) | DVD (3)
A dark comedy that isn't dark or particularly funny, Keeping Mum ends up being an exercise in heavy-handed whimsy.
Top CriticA meek little diversion, nothing more.
A modest comedy that wants to be both dark and reassuring at the same time.
Bracket out the ethical concerns of making merry as the body count mysteriously rises and Keeping Mum is an endearing hoot.
It's probably one of the funniest films to come out of England in years.
Cheerfully black-hearted and unfailingly amusing.
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.
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.
Disappointing British black comedy.
...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.
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Foreign Titles
- Mord im Pfarrhaus (DE)
i love the cast and i love the story its thoroughly entertaining!!
Maggie smith plays a murderer who has gotten out of prison/mental facility and has come to visit her daughter but without literally telling her daughter so shes come as a guest to look after the children!
its a really good movie and is completely worth the watch!!