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Movies / On DVD / Stealing Beauty
Stealing Beauty

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Stealing Beauty (1996)

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Reviews Counted:47

Fresh:24

Rotten:23

Average Rating:5.8/10

Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: When 19-year-old Lucy Harmon (Liv Tyler) arrives in Tuscany, wondering about her mother (a recent suicide) and still nursing a crush on Niccolo, the local playboy she met on a visit four years... When 19-year-old Lucy Harmon (Liv Tyler) arrives in Tuscany, wondering about her mother (a recent suicide) and still nursing a crush on Niccolo, the local playboy she met on a visit four years earlier, everyone sits up and takes notice--especially director Bernardo Bertolucci, who trains his camera on the ingenue with understandable enthusiasm. The Graysons, who own the artists' colony and villa where Lucy's mother once wrote poetry, take the young girl in, and their guests enjoy the infusion of youth. Perhaps most deeply affected is Alex Parrish (Jeremy Irons), a terminally ill writer who finds Lucy charming and vital. Before such attentions, Lucy's interest in Niccolo (who turns out to be a jerk) quickly fades, replaced by an unexpected mystery regarding the identity of her father and a possible new love. And in a further attempt to understand her mother, Lucy writes light little poems as well. (Bertolucci has her words appear on the screen as she scribbles.) In fact, everything seems light in lush and lovely in Tuscany, which provides a gorgeous setting for the gifted ensemble to play out their intrigues. [More]

Starring: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Donal McCann, Stefania Sandrelli

Starring: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Donal McCann, Stefania Sandrelli, Jean Marais, Francesco Siciliano, Sinead Cusack, D.W. Moffett, Rachel Weisz

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Screenwriter: Susan Minot
Story: Bernardo Bertolucci
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Composer: Richard Hartley

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Stealing Beauty

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
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A welcome reminder of Bertolucci's directorial assurance.

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

The grace, craft and real wit in this country house party make it his most seductive film in a very long while.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I find it to be one of his most sublime achievements, filled with a sunny laziness and slow awakening.

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

Utterly boring.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
09/12/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

What do you call a character study with shallow, sketchily-drawn characters, but a gorgeous setting? A scenery study, perhaps. Or an atmosphere study.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

An intriguing, good-looking movie, and character-driven in the best sense. But truly, it's fanciful.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Stealing Beauty demonstrates that director Bernardo Bertolucci is as adept at intimate drama as he is with epic productions.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
01/15/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Auteur-slumming at The WB

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
07/12/04
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

The script is in keeping with the fabric of the film. It's languid and meanders about a bit, but, coupled with the lush and inviting Tuscany countryside, this is not a bad thing at all.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/09/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

The movie plays like the kind of line a rich older guy would lay on a teenage model, suppressing his own intelligence and irony in order to spread out before her the wonderful world he would like to give her as a gift.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

While former model Tyler can work the camera, her performance is generally awkward.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper

In my view, Bernardo Bertolucci is one of the world’s most overrated high profile filmmakers.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/12/02
Jamie Gillies
Jamie Gillies
Apollo Guide

The result is more tedious than insightful, and the film just meekly limps along, without any wit, passion or fire.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

It may not be epic in scale; in artistic terms, though, it's huge.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Hal Hinson
Hal Hinson
Washington Post

[Bertolucci] builds an homage to beauty around a sullen void.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
06/18/02
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

For all the film's missteps, there is cause to echo the uncritical compliment bestowed by the playwright (Jeremy Irons) upon the film's ingenue (Liv Tyler): 'I so enjoyed watching you.'

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even a lesser Bertolucci is an event, and Stealing Beauty has its charms.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/14/01
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You can keep Liv Tyler as an actress altogether as far as I'm concerned.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/08/02
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Stealing Beauty is a bad movie.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Vale la pena completamente...

Full Review Source: Cinenganos | comment Comment
01/11/04
Alex Ramirez
Alex Ramirez
Cinenganos
 
 
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