Out of Africa (1985)
63 %
Reviews Counted: 32 Fresh: 20 Rotten:12 Average Rating: 6.2/10
Consensus:
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.
Runtime: 2 hrs 41 mins
Synopsis: Adapted from Isak Dinesen's novel, OUT OF AFRICA, this film plaintively tells the story of two troubled adults who meet and fall in love in the African wilderness. Karen Blixen-Flecke (Meryl Streep) is a modern woman, caught in the shortcomings of a practical marriage. Finch Hatton (Robert... [More]
Genre: Action/Adventure
Starring: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Klaus Maria Brandauer
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Comment
Click to read the article
02/13/08
Top Critic
The film runs for 161 minutes and does not have a strongly defined narrative.
01/28/08
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.
01/28/08
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.
01/28/08
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.
01/28/08
Top 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.
02/05/07
Top Critic
Despite a long-winded approach to moviemaking, Out of Africa is a sumptuous romantic epic with a wonderful lead performance from Meryl Streep.
12/27/06
Bloated and tedious, Pollack's attempt at epic cinema is hampered by failure to provide any clues about the meaning of Africa for Dinesen as writer and woman, and Watkin's cinematography is impressively exotic in the manner of National Geographic.
07/28/06
For all that it may come out of Africa, the film's final destination is not many miles from Disneyland.
01/26/06
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.
05/19/05
A lyrical and meditative movie about a strong-willed woman and the place she loves.
08/22/04
News
Sydney Pollack dies aged 73
posted by Joanna Cohen May 26, 2008
Academy Award-winning director, producer and actor, Sydney Pollack, dies aged 73.
posted by Joanna Cohen May 26, 2008
Academy Award-winning director, producer and actor, Sydney Pollack, dies aged 73.
IGN RSS Feeds