Critic Reviews

Topsy-Turvy (1999) Rank 4 Reviews

Expert Review Summary
Movie critics combined give Topsy-Turvy (1999) a score of 3.3989 out of 4
based on (56) reviews
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Reviews by Score:
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy" is the work of a man helplessly in love with the theater. In a gloriously entertaining period piece, he tells the story of the genesis, preparation and ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for USA Today (Mike Clark)USA Today (Mike Clark)
One of the year's best movies and certainly its most delightful screen surprise. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at USA Today (Mike Clark)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
Topsy-Turvy reminds us that, in any age, creative expression is at once the most personal and most communal of enterprises. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
A tribute to anyone who ever picked up a score, a pen, a paintbrush or a grease pencil - or a movie camera. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Dallas Observer (Gregory Weinkauf)Dallas Observer (Gregory Weinkauf)
A masterful film about the magic of performance and the foibles of the artists behind it. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Dallas Observer (Gregory Weinkauf)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Some movies delight you. Some stimulate and provoke. Some enlighten and inform. And some simply hand you a rousing good time-- does all of that and more. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for San Francisco Chronicle (Bob Graham)San Francisco Chronicle (Bob Graham)
Part of the appeal of Topsy-Turvy is its generosity about human folly and shortcomings. Its wistfulness is very touching. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Bob Graham)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Netflix (James Rocchi)Netflix (James Rocchi)
Tale about "The Mikado" and its creators, Gilbert and Sullivan, provides rich cinema. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Musicals adapted as films, don't get any better than this offbeat one. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Jim Broadbent gives one of his most perfectly tuned performances as William Schwenk Gilbert, and Allan Corduner is equally adept as Arthur Sullivan. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Not since Milos Foreman's "Amadeus" has there been a film that so captures the genius behind musical composition the way Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy" - the story of Gilbert and Sullivan's creation of "The Mikado" - does. How ironic then that Mr. Forman's ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
This 160minute musical epic (just right in lengththe film was never dull for a second), moves at its own very satisfying speed, enhanced by the magnificent musical arrangements of Carl Davis and replete with many hilarious episodes (it's a very funny ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Long before the Marx Brothers brought artful anarchy to stage and screen or Cole Porter or Stephen Sondheim wrote their distinctively witty Broadway songs, the glorious comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan led the way.Their great ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Imagine what show business would be like without the collaborative efforts of some of the greatest partnerships of all time. You know the ones I'm talking about. Abbott and Costello. Rodgers and Hammerstein. Lennon and McCartney. Gilbert and Sullivan. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.64 out of 4 stars for Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
It's as full a movie as you can imagine -- exhausting and exhilarating and continually fascinating. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for LA Weekly (F. X. Feeney)LA Weekly (F. X. Feeney)
We never seem to be looking at actors, but at people; never at scenes, but at life unrehearsed. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at LA Weekly (F. X. Feeney)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Thoroughly researched, unobtrusively upholstered, this beautifully assured entertainment about Victorian England is a string of delights. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Village Voice (J. Hoberman)Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Not only Mike Leigh's strongest film since "Naked" but a true show-making epic. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Variety (Deborah Young)Variety (Deborah Young)
This beautifully crafted and lively romp around the 1880s stage world should enjoy its longest life as a vid classic. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Variety (Deborah Young)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for The New York Times (Janet Maslin)The New York Times (Janet Maslin)
One of those films that create a mix of erudition, pageantry and delectable acting opportunities, much as "Shakespeare in ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at The New York Times (Janet Maslin)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Washington Post (Desson Thomson)Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
A 160 minute work of sustained brilliance and delicacy. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.56 out of 4 stars for Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Wildly entertaining, "Shakespeare in Love" minus the Bard and the babe, but with substantive style to burn. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
A joyous, amazingly detailed paean to imagination and personal expression that dares -- and succeeds -- to illustrate one of the most mysterious enigmas of all: the creative process. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
Mike Leigh's great big, superbly performed homage to the creative process. ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for The New Zealand HeraldThe New Zealand Herald
You don't have to like Gilbert and Sullivan to like Topsy-Turvy, a biopic of sorts of the masters of Victorian operetta and effectively the inventors of the modern musical. But it helps. An appreciation of director Mike Leigh, whose tragi-comic films ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at The New Zealand Herald
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Naked this isn't. British film director Mike Leigh is known more for his love of dark improvisation and interpersonal dramas (Secrets & Lies, High Hopes) than his dalliances with the stage, but the fact is that Leigh came from a thoroughly theatrical ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
What the film lacks, though, is a conclusion; it's not really meant to have one. The whole point is to be a period piece, a historical drama (with some comedy) meant to depict Victorian theater life. This is done extraordinarily well. What it does ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Movie Reviews UKMovie Reviews UK
In one scene from Topsy-Turvy, Arthur Sullivan (Allan Corduner), Victorian carouser and the melodic half of light opera geniuses Gilbert and Sullivan, fashionably laments his commercial success as his devoted mistress Fanny (Eleanor David) faithfully ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Movie Reviews UK
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Reel.comReel.com
Topsy-Turvy isn't the straightforward Gilbert and Sullivan biopic many viewers would expect. Facts, figures, dates, and time-period detail aren't thrown at you like a narrated PBS special. The story of mismatched musical partners is liberally tossed up ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Reel.com
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Homer YenHomer Yen
"TopsyTurvy" is a sweet film that focuses on this particular period of this partnership's lives when it seemed that the two were ready to split up over creative differences. In a meeting that the two have to discuss their future and current impasse, ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Homer Yen
Topsy-Turvy (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Gary JonesGary Jones
Despite his ambitions as a serious composer, Sullivan is a bit of a party animal, while Gilbert, in contrast to his delightfully funny lyrics and dry wit, is a fairly joyless soul whose only moments of spontaneity occur in private. Leigh manages to ...read the complete Topsy-Turvy movie review at Gary Jones
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Ratings and rankings are based on number of movie, review scores, awards & other criteria.
Overall Rating:
3.4147
Topsy-Turvy (1999) is ranked overall as  out of 4 stars
Avg Critic Score:
3.3989
Topsy-Turvy (1999) is ranked overall as  out of 4 stars
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