Yes, we've all seen all these themes before, but Ivory narrates the film in such a delightful way you just can't help but enjoy it.

Well acted and filmed. Besides the talented cast which most period dramas in fact have, nothing else was done that made it stick out from the pack.

Bonham Carter's character is the main thing lifting the story above your standard Victorian romantic drama but the story and setting are so well worn and predictable that it's hard to really get excited.

Boring a times.

Scrumptious, enticing and perfectly orchestrated with all the clamor and superfluousness of the passionate but cold Victorian Age. The cast is depicted as a lovely family that nonetheless lives in a very sexually repressed period, coupled by the authoritarian values of obedience and discipline. In spite of the lush and pristine camera work mirroring the ethos of the age, it however, belabors far too much on the nature of emotional love without separating itself from prior films.

I am not a big fan of costume dramas. But I found this film by James Ivory more than tolerable. It's very playful and fun, as a contrast to the stiff upper lips it portrays. Bonham Carter makes a pleasant to watch debut. She looks really nice in those dresses. Real star of the film is almost unrecognizable Daniel Day-Lewis. He creates character of immensely enjoyable and charismatic geeky snob. Movie is shot very lightly, and there are lots of scenes that show the beauty of the old Europe.

Another illustrated "classic" from the people who gave you _The Europeons_ and _The Bostonians_. The illustrations in this instance are handsome enough, though a little heavy on the starch. The whole enterprise comes across as a bit bloodless and effete -- a charge all the more telling in a work that keeps going on about "passion" and attempting to make satirical hash of the timid, the aloof, and the bookish.

One of the best adaptation scripts ever written is turned into a truly great film. Everything works in this movie from the opening strains of Verdi's music to the last scene when the lovers return to Florence. Not a wrong note is hit. Perfect casting, deft direction. Beautiful! A definite five star attraction.

Detached from context and aware of it; almost affectionate parody. But the experience is mostly understated, unashamed hedonism. A self-assured charmer that I fear is often misunderstood.

A well-acted, witty study of propriety versus desire. Every character is delightful.

This is a placid romance, but I found the young Bonham Carter enrapturing despite the restrictions of her character. The setting and production is lovely, and I certainly love the period and the theme, but taken as a whole I find the film slightly uneventful. There is a lot of meaning in examining only the slow process of overturning social convention, but it isn't a particularly visceral experience, and I think the film could have made better use of its medium in conveying its message.

88.125

Quaint. I really liked young Helena Bonham Carter in this. I ended up sympathizing most with Cecil though...

Day-Lewis and Maggie Smith are simply delightful here, most notably for their subtle comedic turns. These performances could veer off into mockery, but instead the fine actors imbue them with humanity. The romantic story at the film's center is overdone and not as compelling, but the writing is consistently clever, the scenery delightful to look at. It all makes for an enjoyable turn every now and then.

british women be faintin

More than a great love story. It's both a lighthearted and deeply impassioned inspirational lesson about life.

This elegant and restrained James Ivory costume drama is just graceful enough to keep its audience constantly engaged and just as controlled to never let it be anything more than mildly fascinated. Splendidly made, well-filmed and blessed with a top-notch cast, "A Room With a View" is nevertheless rather unspectacular and its beautifully framed shots quickly evaporate from memory. It is undoubtedly good enough for what it is though and it fully succeeds on the terms it sets.

To be fair, this movie is a fine example of its genre (Victorian period piece), but personally all the repressed sexuality and romanticized acts of rebellion seem both silly and boring.

Good film.