These Foolish Things
Together they stumble through the often sinister pitfalls of London’s theatrical establishment on a rags to riches quest in a city on the brink of war.
- Director:
- Julia Taylor-Stanley (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Julia Taylor-Stanley
- Cast:
- Anjelica HustonZoe TapperAndrew LincolnDavid LeonTerence Stamp
Reviews & comments
They passed beside it very close, and yet, they did not see it.
Not unlike 'Australia', a genre film re-creating another genre of movie - 30s romance - including another whole medium's genre, 30s stage production - the theatre's heyday - and both illuminating and mocking all of them simultaneously: AND, not apologizing for it. I loved the decidedly un-PC homosexual nasties ... and a lot else besides. We have a Slow Food...
Review
I took my mother to this thinking it looked a good 'old(er) lady flick' - sorry Mum. I hated it (perhaps the longest 1 hour 47 minutes of my life) but I thought at least she would have enjoyed it. Now apparently she's told my Dad that I took her to 'some long boring film at the Bridgeway' - still at least my Dad thought that funny, especially since he...
The Guardian
pressLike a sherry-befuddled old stage dame, this homage to 1930s luvvie-dom seems unaware of how preposterous it looks in the real world. It follows three young hopefuls - an actress, a writer and a director - through the ordeals of London's theatreland, which seem to have been assembled from fictional sources such as Merchant Ivory films and Agatha Christie TV specials. Their painful double entendres make Are You Being Served? look like Oscar Wilde, but more worrying is the number of laughable lines that clearly weren't meant to be funny...
New Zealand Herald
pressBackstage romance has made for many a fine film. This is not one of them. In fact, compared with this tosh, the sentimental whimsy of Mrs Henderson Presents looks gritty and cynical...
BBC
pressA romance so old-fashioned that audiences will be checking not just their watches but their calendars, These Foolish Things is a well made but achingly square drama. Zoe Tapper stars as Diana Shaw, an acting wannabe in 30s London whose attempts to tread the boards without falling flat on her face are interspersed with interludes ripped straight from the pages of Mills and Boon. Terence Stamp and Angelica Huston breathe some much-needed life into proceedings, but otherwise this is for incurable romantics only...
The Guardian
pressLike a sherry-befuddled old stage dame, this homage to 1930s luvvie-dom seems unaware of how preposterous it looks in the real world. It follows three young hopefuls - an actress, a writer and a director - through the ordeals of London's theatreland, which seem to have been assembled from fictional sources such as Merchant Ivory films and Agatha Christie TV specials. Their painful double entendres make Are You Being Served? look like Oscar Wilde, but more worrying is the number of laughable lines that clearly weren't meant to be funny...
New Zealand Herald
pressBackstage romance has made for many a fine film. This is not one of them. In fact, compared with this tosh, the sentimental whimsy of Mrs Henderson Presents looks gritty and cynical...
BBC
pressA romance so old-fashioned that audiences will be checking not just their watches but their calendars, These Foolish Things is a well made but achingly square drama. Zoe Tapper stars as Diana Shaw, an acting wannabe in 30s London whose attempts to tread the boards without falling flat on her face are interspersed with interludes ripped straight from the pages of Mills and Boon. Terence Stamp and Angelica Huston breathe some much-needed life into proceedings, but otherwise this is for incurable romantics only...
They passed beside it very close, and yet, they did not see it.
Not unlike 'Australia', a genre film re-creating another genre of movie - 30s romance - including another whole medium's genre, 30s stage production - the theatre's heyday - and both illuminating and mocking all of them simultaneously: AND, not apologizing for it. I loved the decidedly un-PC homosexual nasties ... and a lot else besides. We have a Slow...
Review
I took my mother to this thinking it looked a good 'old(er) lady flick' - sorry Mum. I hated it (perhaps the longest 1 hour 47 minutes of my life) but I thought at least she would have enjoyed it. Now apparently she's told my Dad that I took her to 'some long boring film at the Bridgeway' - still at least my Dad thought that funny, especially since he...
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