The Winslow Boy (1999)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Just saw the 1948 movie, The Winslow Boy. In scene after scene, the staging, script, and even the gestures of the actors were copied in the 1999 remake. So much of what I thought were dialogues written by Mamet and Mamet's direction is NOT original. The original play and screenplay are more than 95% of what you saw in 1999. Even more disappointing to me was that Mamet cut some very good scenes and dialogue that provided the perspective of the barrister's reasoning, for why he took the case. The cross-examination of the boy is much more cogent in the 1948 version. A detail concerning the boy's smoking is played out among the other characters, a beautiful subtle detail that Mamet eliminated. So, see the 1948 movie and enjoy Robert Donat and the other actors. Then, wonder as I did, how this remake came to be a "Mamet" play.

Not a patch on the original, which starred the great Robert Donat and the lovely Margaret Leighton. This film however did bring Jeremy Northam to my attention who was superb in this and anything I've seen him in, that's why I've given it 7. I thought the woman playing Catherine was rubbish and let the whole production down. She had none of the subtlety or underplayed pathos of Margaret Leighton, they might as well of had a wooden puppet playing the part. Nigel Hawthorne put in a creditable performance. One of the comic highlights of the original is Katherine Harrison's loud, cockney maid. The girl in this film seemed to sleep walk her way through the scenes, which should have made you sit up and at least smile. In fact that just about sums up Mamet's directorial style-somnambulent. If you want to see the definitive version though check out Donat and Co. you even get the screenplay written by the Author!

Pigeon and Jones are the emotional hub of this cinematic wheel. The female actors triumph in this English period piece. Mr. Mamet and Mr. Rattigan did an excellent job in their adaptation of the stage play. I enjoyed the story. It was very 'English' in that its passion was both exposed and repressed as the authors saw fit. A volcano rumbling, simmering, until the climax. Jeremy Northam is an exquisite actor. He has shown time and time again that he can handle himself in front of a camera. Ms. Pigeon is by far the best female actor of her age group. For all those out there that think that she gets work because she's married to Mamet should see her in Heist, The Spanish Prisoner and Homicide. the rest of the cast did admirable jobs. I recommend this movie.

Subtlety, restraint and reserve are the hallmarks of this beautifully crafted version of a classic piece of theater. The characters are all flawlessly created by a cast of brilliant actors. Jeremy Northam is amazing in everything he does but never better than in this film where he plays a politician who takes the case with reservations and then sticks with it risking his own future by his courageous stand in defense of a young boy who seems guilty but swears he is innocent. The sacrifices each person in the family makes to uphold the family honor and name is an inspiration and the sexual chemistry between Jeremy Northam's character and that of Catherine Winslow who plays the feminist older sister of the title character is like a smoldering ember about to burst into flame.