Where Ealing comedies used to have full command of irony, Keeping Mum is weirdly clueless.
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09/28/06
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Keeping Mum (2006)
56
%
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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
Top CriticJohnson isn't striving for a masterpiece, just something clever, unpredictable and human. Fun, too. And he succeeds.
09/14/06
Top CriticThe script (by Richard Russo) is solid, the performances are witty and fun, and the movie is a most agreeable way to spend an hour and a half.
09/28/06
Obvious, simplistic, and never funny, Niall Johnson's movie may be useful only as real estate porn -- Cornwall and the Isle of Man never looked so super cute.
09/13/06
Top CriticNiall Johnson's "Keeping Mum" is one of those rare pleasures that were churned out by the country regularly a decade or so ago, only to stop suddenly.
09/28/06
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
It might work as a parody of this genre if it weren't played just like another formulaic retread.
10/20/06
The latest in a long line of 'quirky little English village' comedies is charming enough, but Keeping Mum doesn't break any new ground.
09/29/06
It's a bit of amiable fun, and there's a first-rate cast who give game performances. However, I couldn't help feeling that the story needed a colder, sharper edge of steel and, quite simply, more gags.
01/07/06
Keeping Mum can't decide if it's a black comedy or a touching emotional journey; trying to be both at once just doesn't work.
09/29/06
Mary Poppins commits murder most foul in this slight but worthwhile comedy that proudly displays its droll British humor at every turn.
10/18/06
An English black comedy about a housekeeper who turns out be quite a miracle-worker in a dysfunctional preacher's family.
09/15/06
Smith, along with the rest of the cast, rises above and turns the thinly scripted dark comedy into an amusing and enjoyable British romp.
09/29/06
Top CriticThe British countryside provides a pretty framework, unfortunately the picture inside doesn't fit the bill.
12/30/06
a tease, a total sham
09/15/06
Succeed[s] in recreating the simple pleasures of the old Ealing comedies, which let talented character actors shine.
09/28/06
An insufferable British dark comedy in the tradition of other happy-horseshit classics
08/07/07
Getting audiences to laugh at murder is tricky business, and these filmmakers aren't quite up to the challenge.
01/07/06
A dark comedy that isn't dark or particularly funny, Keeping Mum ends up being an exercise in heavy-handed whimsy.
10/26/06
Top CriticThis would be a fun little film to watch during afternoon tea.
10/07/06
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