A Room With a View

1985

A Room With a View

Critics Consensus

The hard edges of E.M. Foster novel maybe sanded off, but what we get with A Room with a View is an eminently entertaining comedy with an intellectual approach to love.

100%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 30

85%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 25,425
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Movie Info

Set during the Edwardian era of England, A Room With a View finds Lucy, a proper young British lady, facing a dilemma -- should she marry the safe, nerdish Cecil, or opt for the unpredictability of the charismatic George whom she met while on a tour of the continent?

Cast

Helena Bonham Carter
as Lucy Honeychurch
Julian Sands
as George
Maggie Smith
as Charlotte
Denholm Elliott
as Emerson
Daniel Day-Lewis
as Cecil
Simon Callow
as Reverend Beebe
Judi Dench
as Miss Lavish
Rosemary Leach
as Mrs. Honeychurch
Rupert Graves
as Freddy
Patrick Godfrey
as Eager
Fabia Drake
as Catherine
Joan Henley
as Teresa Alan
Maria Britneva
as Mrs. Vyse
Amanda Walker
as The Cockney Signora
Peter Cellier
as Sir Harry Otway
Mia Fothergill
as Minnie Beebe
Patricia Lawrence
as Mrs. Butterworth
Mirio Guidelli
as Santa Croce Guide
Matyelok Gibbs
as The New Charlotte and Lucy
Kitty Aldridge
as The New Charlotte and Lucy
Freddy Korner
as Mr. Floyd
Elizabeth Marangoni
as Miss Pole
Lucca Rossi
as Phaeton
Isabella Celani
as Persephone
Luigi di Fiore
as Murdered Youth
Luigi Di Fiori
as Murdered Youth
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Critic Reviews for A Room With a View

All Critics (30) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (30)

  • If amusing, "A Room With a View" is little more than a lark, a series of skits, a two-hour tribute to the rich British eccentric.

    Jan 3, 2018 | Full Review…

    Paul Attanasio

    Washington Post
    Top Critic

  • A thoroughly entertaining screen adaptation of novelist E.M. Forster's comedy of manners about the Edwardian English upper class at home and abroad, distinguished by superb ensemble acting, intelligent writing and stunning design.

    Nov 19, 2008 | Full Review…

    Variety Staff

    Variety
    Top Critic

  • Decent, honest, truthful and, dearest of all to Forster, it connects.

    Feb 9, 2006 | Full Review…

    Geoff Andrew

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • A Room With a View is not only uncharacteristically benign for Forster, but also blithely, elegantly funny, which is a fit description of [this]first-rate film adaptation...

    May 20, 2003 | Rating: 5/5

    Vincent Canby

    New York Times
    Top Critic

  • It is an intellectual film, but intellectual about emotions: It encourages us to think about how we feel, instead of simply acting on our feelings.

    Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

    Roger Ebert

    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic

  • The film's charms are many but they are not the sort that resonate with any aspect of human behaviour with which I am familiar. When you get this English, or this Edwardian, or, rather, late Victorian, really, it's like science fiction, I suppose.

    Nov 17, 2015 | Full Review…

    Josef Braun

    Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta)
View All Critic Reviews (30)

Audience Reviews for A Room With a View

  • Mar 03, 2014
    Helena Bonham Carter has the big big 80s hair and of course the acting ability to match wits with Maggie Smith and Daniel Day Lewis. A Merchant-Ivory period piece yes..but one with some heart to it.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • Dec 17, 2012
    Lovely movie. Saw it this time on DVD and it was a splendid way to pass a dreary Sunday afternoon. I love Mr. B, the preacher, the best. Helena Bonham Carter is, of course, the coolest with Maggie Smith a close second.
    Bathsheba M Super Reviewer
  • Jul 07, 2012
    A young woman falls for a man during her vacation in Italy, but social pressures and his passionate nature make a fop the more socially acceptable choice. Daniel Day-Lewis can play tough, gruff, evil characters like Bill the Butcher and Daniel Plainview and even the sexually voracious Tomas, but can he play an upper-class fop? Yes, he can. The man's range is extraordinary. This film is everything that is good and bad about a Merchant/Ivory production. It's opulent, classic, and essentially British, but it's also occasionally boring, making the most of the most trifling conflicts. Part of this is film's inability as a medium to make compelling commonplace disagreements in a way that is unique to books, but Ivory's direction, distant shots of four or more characters, accentuates the germane nature of the film's tiny conflicts -- about a room with a view, the settling of accounts, and a writer's fictionalizing of a character's dalliance. Overall, if you like Merchant/Ivory films, then you've probably already seen this one, and if you don't, this isn't much different from the rest.
    Jim H Super Reviewer
  • Feb 07, 2012
    Nice movie. Not my favorite of this genre, but satisfying. A little slow.
    Cynthia S Super Reviewer
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