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Movies / On DVD / Bright Young Things
Bright Young Things

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Bright Young Things (2004)

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Reviews Counted:105

Fresh:69

Rotten:36

Average Rating:6.3/10

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: "Some time in the past when things were much as they are now, only more so..." A satirical comedy as well as a love story, Bright Young Things, marks the directorial debut of actor and writer... "Some time in the past when things were much as they are now, only more so..." A satirical comedy as well as a love story, Bright Young Things, marks the directorial debut of actor and writer Stephen Fry. "Bright Young Things," says Fry, "is a period film shot with modern pace and cinematography. It deals with fame, sexual scandal, greed, night-clubbing and the frantic glamour of youth." While the central plot of Bright Young Things is a romance, it is also a highly topical social comedy that shows a conservative older generation failing to understand the club-culture, music, dance, and frenetic pace of its children. Modern society at its most decadent and colourful is fully on display as is the popular media fuelled by gossip columnists and paparazzi who dominate a tabloid press propelled by rumour and scandal. With a screenplay adapted by Stephen Fry from the classic novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, the film boasts an outstanding cast including Stephen Cambell Moore, Emily Mortimer, Fenella Woolgar, James McAvoy, Michael Sheen and Guy Henry as the 'Bright Young Things', alongside a distinguished ensemble line-up that includes Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Stockard Channing, Richard E. Grant, Julia McKenzie, Sir John Mills, Peter O'Toole, Bill Paterson, Imelda Staunton and Harriet Walter. Set in the 1930's, the film concerns a social set known to the press -- who follow their every move -- as the 'Bright Young Things', Adam (Stephen Campbell Moore) and his friends are eccentric, wild, and entirely shocking to the older generation. They are young, party-going creatures who embrace every innovation, from the gramophone to the telephone -- in a self-consciously up-to-the-minute way. Amidst the madness, Adam, who is well connected but totally broke, is desperately trying to get enough money to marry the beautiful Nina (Emily Mortimer). While his attempts to raise cash are constantly thwarted, their friends seem to self-destruct, one-by-one in an endless search for newer and faster sensations. Finally, when events out of their control come crashing into the world, they are forced to reassess their lives and what they value the most. Bright Young Things, a THINKFilm release, is a Revolution Films and Doubting Hall Ltd production in association with the Film Consortium, Vision View and Icon Film Distribution, produced by Gina Carter and Miranda Davis, executive produced by Andrew Eaton and Michael Winterbottom. Behind the cameras, the distinguished production team is headed by director of photography Henry Braham, production designer Michael Howells, costume designer Nic Ede and editor Alex Mackie, with hair and make up by Peter King. -- © ThinkFilm [More]

Starring: Emily Mortimer, Stephen Campbell Moore, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent

Starring: Emily Mortimer, Stephen Campbell Moore, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Stockard Channing, Richard E. Grant, Guy Henry, James McAvoy, Julia McKenzie, John Mills, Bill Paterson, Michael Sheen, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Harriet Walter, Peter O'Toole

Director: Stephen Fry

Director: Stephen Fry
Screenwriter: Stephen Fry
Studio: ThinkFilm

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Bright Young Things

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Though it falls short of Fry's best work in other fields, this is a sound first feature.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Jane Howdle
Jane Howdle
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The 'wit' is leaden and unfunny; the narrative's progress ungainly; the direction stolid.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Disconcertingly sentimental.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/15/04
Philip French
Philip French
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A witty, intelligent, promising picture. Carry on, Jeeves.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/30/03
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lacks the emotional resonance that would have made it a more compelling film.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/30/03
Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/06/03
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Writer-actor Fry takes an ambitious approach to the British period film, adapting Evelyn Waugh's novel Vile Bodies into a lively and densely populated romantic comedy.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/21/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (Australia) | comment Comment
10/18/08
Sunday Times (Australia)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

The wit never comes through the art deco settings.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/04/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

If a movie can draw this kind of talent for mostly miniscule roles, how can you go wrong?

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The film is a breezy and likable enough entertainment, especially for those of us unfamiliar with Waugh’s original.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Daniel Wible
Daniel Wible
Film Threat

It is in the humorous moments that the movie really hits its stride, with the supporting cast providing many of the laughs.

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
09/30/05
Scott Nash
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

One conceit of writer-director Stephen Fry is to dramatize parties as knots of chaos, social hurricanes that spill across the landscape this way and that, ruining lives, eating time, preventing progress of any kind.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Houston Chronicle

The uninitiated are hereby warned: Bright Young Things has an exclusionary timbre. Unlike Hollywood films it never slows down to explain a joke or clarify an allusion.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
01/08/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Fry often seems unsure of whether he wants to stress satire or drama, and while a good film can be both, this film is neither.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
11/23/04
Dan Devine
Dan Devine
PopMatters

A great deal of fun for its first two-thirds.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
11/02/04
Glenn Kenny
Glenn Kenny
Premiere Magazine

Fry seems to believe there's nothing that would fulfill audiences more than to vicariously tag along on screen after fictionalized celebrity types from another time.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
11/02/04
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

Memorable characters come and go so often and so franticaly that you wonder if World War II might have been merely the explosion of England's fast pulse.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Mercury | comment Comment
10/28/04
Anthony Del Valle
Anthony Del Valle
Las Vegas Mercury
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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