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.
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07/30/09
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Keeping Mum (2006)
56
%
Tomatometer
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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.
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... [More]
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Patrick Swayze
Director: Niall Johnson
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Reviews for Keeping Mum
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04/23/09
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.
04/20/09
An insufferable British dark comedy in the tradition of other happy-horseshit classics
08/07/07
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05/12/07
Top CriticThe problem with Keeping Mum is that the slaughter is very real and, worse, the victims are often innocent or otherwise undeserving of their fate.
03/01/07
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.
01/31/07
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01/20/07
It has all the edge, darkness and wit one expects from the storied genre of British dark comedy.
01/19/07
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.
01/11/07
The British countryside provides a pretty framework, unfortunately the picture inside doesn't fit the bill.
12/30/06
Disappointing British black comedy.
12/13/06
...the film gets by -- just barely -- on the powerhouse combination of Atkinson, Thomas and Smith...
12/04/06
The warped fun is enhanced by two performances — one that is expected and one that's a delightful surprise.
11/17/06
...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.
11/11/06
I'll match Grace's way with a meat cleaver and a shovel against Mary's spoonful of sugar every time.
11/10/06
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.
11/06/06
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.
11/03/06
...a disappointingly pat bit of Brit comedy that suffers by comparison to the postwar black Ealing comedies it evokes.
11/03/06
The Ealing of yore is gone, and Guiness, ex-ladykiller, is now and forever, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Here's mud in your eye.
10/30/06
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