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Wit (2001)
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Reviews Counted:9
Fresh:7
Rotten:2
Average Rating:6.2/10
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-winning script is faithfully adapted to the small screen by director Mike Nichols and star Emma Thompson in this HBO special. Thompson plays Vivian Bearing, a professor of... Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-winning script is faithfully adapted to the small screen by director Mike Nichols and star Emma Thompson in this HBO special. Thompson plays Vivian Bearing, a professor of 17th Century poetry specializing in "the Holy Sonnets of John Donne." The intellect is everything to Vivian--which is why, when she is diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer--"there is no stage five"--she agrees to undergo aggressive chemotherapy in the name of cancer research. "You must be very tough," her doctor tells her, and Vivian is nothing if not tough--a tough professor who is tough on her students. Yet as her treatment--and her cancer--progresses, Vivian finds that what she needs most isn't the cold rationality with which she's lived her whole life and which is amply evidenced by the hospital staff attending her, but the simple human kindness shown by her primary nurse and her former mentor. This beautiful meditation on death and humanity is shot in close-ups that linger on Emma Thompson's spare, emotionally naked performance. Nichols's sure-handed direction brings out both the script's own wit and its poignancy. [More]
Starring: Emma Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Atkins, Audra McDonald
Starring: Emma Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Atkins, Audra McDonald, Harold Pinter, John R. Woodward
Director: Mike Nichols
Director: Mike Nichols
Screenwriter: Mike Nichols, Emma Thompson
Producer: Simon Bosanquet
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Reviews for Wit
The dour subject matter and director Mike Nichols' unflinching approach may make this a difficult viewing, but it is rewarding.
A powerful drama about dying and death that will soften the heart of anyone who sees it.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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