Critic Reviews
Up At The Villa (2000) Rank 2 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (65) reviews
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Reviews by Score:
Reel.com (Mary Kalin-Casey)
Film.com (John Hartl)
Somewhere around the beginning of Hour Two, the narrative loses momentum, and Pino Donaggio's molasses-thick score begins to drag everything down with it. The ending also lacks the surprise twist that seems to be promised . ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Film.com (John Hartl)
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
Salon.com (Michael Sragow)
Despite the prestigious talents involved, this is strictly "Minor Piece ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Salon.com (Michael Sragow)
Film.com (Tom Keogh)
If you're paying close attention, there is reason enough to find Up at the Villa a fascinating experience, almost an experiment in some ways, but it's not a fully realized work of cinema. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Film.com (Tom Keogh)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Moderately pleasing adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novella. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Dallas Observer (Bill Gallo)
Despite his natty wardrobe and calculated sangfroid, Penn doesn't summon up quite the right image. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Dallas Observer (Bill Gallo)
LA Weekly (Ron Stringer)
Impressive supporting cast---, in character parts both expanded and invented, enrich the enterprise. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at LA Weekly (Ron Stringer)
DVD Review: Up at the Villa
During her stay, she falls for an American who's a bit of a rebel(Sean Penn), and in comes the regular story of watching our lead actress struggle with conflicting emotions about the people around her. Thankfully, unlike the recent film "End Of The ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at DVD Review: Up at the Villa
UK Critic (Ian Waldron-Mantgani)
This is a bland and aimless film. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at UK Critic (Ian Waldron-Mantgani)
Cinema-Scene.com (David Perry)
Baltimore Sun (Ann Hornaday)
Genteel but ultimately unnecessary entertainment. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Baltimore Sun (Ann Hornaday)
Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
For all its handsome decor, tasteful restraint and old-fashioned look-and-feel, is a stiff, lacking tension, sizzle, drama, energy, appeal and, finally, purpose. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
USA Today (Mike Clark)
For novelty value, you can do worse than seeing Sean Penn in a rare chance to don evening-wear on screen, but this isn't a sight to sustain a two-hour haul. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at USA Today (Mike Clark)
Globe and Mail (--)
The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
It reminds us that Italy is beautiful, that Fascism was a dreadful nuisance and that Sean Penn is a great actor, deserving of better vehicles than this vintage lemon. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
The characters are so conventional that the movie has nowhere interesting to go, even when a corpse complicates affairs. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
The surprise is how tame and passionless it all seems, particularly after director Philip Haas's fevered "Angels and ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
There are a few interesting moments, but basically Up at the Villa is dangerously short of sympathetic characters. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
Politics is almost an afterthought in this balky, attenuated film. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Beauty and bloodlessness battle it out in every frame of Villa , and no one comes out a winner. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
The plot is more convenient than intriguing, the characters more cartoonish than iconic--especially the heroine, who grapples with feminism in a way that should have been fascinating. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
The melodrama of the Maugham original is too simplistic to involve, and the places the film's plot goes are so obvious that even the presence of quality actors can't create sufficient interest. ...read the complete Up At The Villa movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
User Reviews
by A. Cullen on March 16, 2009
THIS IS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE, KRISTAN SCOTT THOMAS IS SUCH A GREAT ACTRESS. ...
To settle or wait for true love-isn't that the question we all want answered. In 'Up At The Villa' Sean Penn and Kristen-Scott-Thomas give very strong performances in the lead roles. As for Anne Bancroft, she may not appear in more than one or two ...
by Cabir Davis on January 21, 2001
We rented this video based on the legend on the cover, and didn't quite realize it would turn out to be the treat that it eventually was. This brilliant adaptation of a Somerset Maugham novella turns out to be one of the best things about 2000's art-film ...
by carol irvin "c.k.... on November 14, 2000
I am used to having Sean Penn, Kristin Scott-Thomas and Anne Bancroft completely knock me out in their screen roles. However, I'm also well accustomed to not being one of writer Somerset Maugham's fans. His writing bores me to death on the written page. ...
by "mjmilne" on September 02, 2000
UATV is from a Somerset Maughin novella. It takes place as World War II reaches Italy. Kristin Scott Thomas plays a complex Mary Panton, widowed, in search of romance and a rich husband, who stays at her friend's Florence Villa. Sean Penn plays the ...
by Susan Fong on June 29, 2000
I also really enjoyed this movie. This is an intelligent rendering of Somerset Maugham's novella. No explicit language, sex, or violence but the film still holds your attention because of the good dialogue and acting. The costumes are gorgeous too. ...
by Dianne Foster "Di... on September 18, 2005
Although I am no fan of Sean Penn, I found UP AT THE VILLA an interesting and well executed story. The protagonist is played by Kirsten Scott-Thomas, who demonstrates again that her strength lies in her ability to play a relatively honest and forthright ...
by Joseph Haschka on February 19, 2005
UP AT THE VILLA illustrates the mischief one can get into when burdened with too much spare time.
Mary Panton (Kristin Scott Thomas), a widowed Brit whose husband recently died after squandering their fortune, blast his eyes, is residing in 1939 ...
by Lawrence Bird on December 31, 2002
If there was ever a need for evidence that one great actor/actress cannot carry a mediocre film, "Up in the Villa" satisfies that need. Kristen Scott Thomas is asked to carry nearly the entire load in this film and she does marvelously; however, the ...
by Steven Reynolds on September 05, 2002
A sumptuously filmed, delightfully old-fashioned, but ultimately rather insubstantial adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novella of the same name. Mary Panton (Kristin Scott Thomas) must decide: does she play it safe and marry a stuffy Englishman ...
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