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Out of Africa (1985)

tomatometer

63

Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 32
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 12

Though lensed with stunning cinematography and featuring a pair of winning performances from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, Out of Africa suffers from excessive length and glacial pacing.

67

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 2

Though lensed with stunning cinematography and featuring a pair of winning performances from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, Out of Africa suffers from excessive length and glacial pacing.

audience

84

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 37,826

My Rating

Movie Info

Out of Africa is drawn from the life and writings of Danish author Isak Dinesen, who during the time that the film's events occured was known by her married name, Karen Blixen-Flecke. For convenience's sake, Karen (Meryl Streep) has married Baron Bor Blixen-Flecke (Klaus Maria Brandauer). In 1914, the Baron moves himself and his wife to a plantation in Nairobi, then leaves Karen to her own devices as he returns to his womanizing and drinking. Soon, Karen has fallen in love with charming white

PG, 2 hr. 41 min.

Drama, Romance

Kurt Luedtke

Jan 29, 2002

Universal Pictures

Cast

All Critics (32) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (12) | DVD (16)

Out of Africa is, at last, the free-spirited, fullhearted gesture that everyone has been waiting for the movies to make all decade long. It reclaims the emotional territory that is rightfully theirs.

February 20, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Maybe the problem of the pacing is simply the nature of the beast these days with expensive period pieces. Once the difficult details are all in place, it may be too much to expect a director to resist milking every scene for more than it's worth.

January 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Sydney Pollack applies craftsmanship and restraint to a classic plot curve of longing, fulfillment, and loss, and although the denouement is a bit overextended, he never yields to facile, insistent sentimentality -- his effects are honestly won.

February 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment (1)
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

With the exception of Miss Streep's performance, the pleasures of Out of Africa are all peripheral -- David Watkin's photography, the landscapes, the shots of animal life -all of which would fit neatly into a National Geographic layout.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Out of Africa is a great movie to look at, breathtakingly filmed on location. It is a movie with the courage to be about complex, sweeping emotions, and to use the star power of its actors without apology.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It tells a grand love story in less-than-grand fashion but is nevertheless worth seeing because of all the other things it does right.

December 18, 1985 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Enthralling epic about 1900s Africa tackles mature subjects.

April 27, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Lush, intelligent epic.

May 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | Comment
Creative Loafing

Dull biopic of the strong-willed Danish writer Isak Dinesen.

March 25, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The film is so preened and self-satisfied.

February 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

The film runs for 161 minutes and does not have a strongly defined narrative.

January 28, 2008 Comment

As the Academy found before awarding it seven Oscars, it is easy to be seduced by the lush cinematography and Barry's score. More difficult to tolerate is the slushy love story between Streep and Redford.

January 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comments (2)

The movie is not drama and far from a compelling romance. Needless to say, the prestige and technical polish on display here were enough to win this flick a passel of Oscars.

January 28, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Despite a long-winded approach to moviemaking, Out of Africa is a sumptuous romantic epic with a wonderful lead performance from Meryl Streep.

December 27, 2006 Comment
Oscar Guy

Bloated and tedious, Pollack's attempt at epic cinema is hampered by failure to provide clues about the meaning of Africa for Dinesen as writer and woman, and Watkin's cinematography is impressive in the manner of National Geographic.

July 28, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comments (2)

For all that it may come out of Africa, the film's final destination is not many miles from Disneyland.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Meryl Streep trots out a classic performance in this 1985 Oscar-winner about Isak Dineson/Karen Blixen, a writer who lived in Africa for a short time and experienced all manner of adventure and heartache, dutifully recorded in this Sydney Pollack epic.

May 19, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com

beautiful but overrated

February 7, 2005 Comment
Shadows on the Wall

A lyrical and meditative movie about a strong-willed woman and the place she loves.

August 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | Comment
Spirituality and Practice
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Out of Africa

Incredible in so many ways. Full review later.

October 3, 2011
TomBowler
Thomas Bowler

Super Reviewer

The Academy certainly loves the Prestige Picture, don't they? This film filled that niche in 1985, and it was decided that this was the film that should take home the big awards that night. Some of them are deserved, don't get me wrong, but I think this film is just really good, and not a classic. Like many prestige

May 12, 2011
cosmo313
Chris Weber

Super Reviewer

    1. Karen Blixen-Finecke: I have been a mental traveler.
    – Submitted by Anita J (3 days ago)
    1. Karen Blixen-Finecke: I had a farm in Africa.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

Movies Like Out of Africa

Latest News for Out of Africa

May 26, 2008:
Sydney Pollack dies aged 73
Academy Award-winning director, producer and actor, Sydney Pollack, dies aged 73.

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Foreign Titles

  • Memorias de África (ES)
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