Cold Comfort Farm

Rating:
Summary: 1971 version far superior
Review: I was very excited at the prospect of seeing CCC on screen as it is one of my favorite books. I was extremely disappointed. All the comedic terror and true nasty wit was gone. The 1971 version, in black and white from the BBC with Alistair Sim was perfect.Anyone know how to get ahold of it???

Rating:
Summary: read the book
Review: This movie was fantastic and well worth seeing. It was witty and humorous, but the book is so much better. Stella Gibbons' prose is a delight to read. Read the book. I guarantee you'll love it if you enjoyed the film.

Rating:
Summary: Kate Beckinsale shines in this delightful comedy
Review: Cold Comfort Farm is a wonderful mixture of offbeat characters and strange situations that make for some of the grandest comedy on screen in some time. If you think you won't like it because it's an English period comedy abandon that notion and dive in. This movie is one you will enjoy. The actors are perfect for bringing this off and it is a pleasure just to watch them tangle with this material. Ian McKellen and Rufus Sewell are particularly quirky as is Maria Miles as Elphine, but Sheila Burrel as Aunt Ada gets the best line: "I saw something nasty in the woodshed!" But the key character is Flora, played to perfection by the delectable Kate Beckinsale. It is Flora's good sense and practicality that master the situation and win the day. She sets the world right with her refusal to allow it to be otherwise. This mix of wacky characters needs the grounding of Flora to allow us a point of view and Kate Beckinsale establishes that perfectly. Ms. Beckinsale has done the kind of exceptional work here that we've come to expect from her. Get this video and get ready to laugh long and hard.

Rating:
Summary: Like good cheese - better with age
Review: Great British comedy. Like so many really good movies, must be seen at least three times to catch the nuances. Some lines become classics that repeat themselves in your head - "I saw something nasty in the woodshed!" and "Welcome, Robert Post's child." and "They shall all burn, but we shall all qui-i-i-i-ver!"

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great.
Review: This film is good entertainment. A classic story, well executed and good fun to see. However, the BBC version produced on Masterpiece Theatre some years ago was far superior. That film was great fun to see.

Rating:
Summary: Good but older version better
Review: This film is very good but an older version was done (by the BBC?) with Alastaire Sim and was much better. I hope to see it released also. -I'd buy it in a 'New York Minute'!

Rating:
Summary: A bizzare movie, that makes sense!
Review: This movie has such unusual characters, that oddly enough, everyone will relate to. The movie is funny in an unreal, oh my god, that's my grandmother - uncle - cousin, way. One of my favorite scenes is when Flora and her uncle go to church, and her uncle begins to describe hell. He begins by saying,"You know when burn yourself when your takin' a cake out the oven, or when your lightin' one of those godless cigarettes. so you get a bit o butter to cool it off. WELL THERE'LL BE NO BUTTER IN HELL!" Well, I guess you've got to see the movie to appreciate it. It will be one of your favorites!

Rating:
Summary: Invincible "Polly Anna"overcomes all odds in a comedic gem.
Review: My wife and I saw this at the theater when it came out, and at first didn't realize it was a COMEDY. We kept expecting something terrible would befall the heroine. Finally we realized it was a comedy and that this "Polly Anna" could and would prevail against the devil himself. From then on we just sat back and enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: An engaging treatment of a quirky novel
Review: "Cold Comfort Farm", the novel, was a parody of naturalism. The melodramatic and eccentrically rustic Starkadders- like Seth, a lusty young man who loves "the talkies," Amos, a fire and brimstone preacher, and Great Aunt Ada Doom, who saw something nasty in the woodshed- are interesting enough in their own right, but are really parodies of the way people were portrayed in the Faulkneresque novels of the time. The movie manages to capture some of the parody in the book, but not all of it. It did include many of my favorite bits from the novel, and some truly stellar performances. If you are an Ian McKellan fan, don't miss him as Amos. Eileen Atkins also does a grand job as the Emma-esque Flora. The film is well worth a watch, but one needs to read the novel first in order to best understand and appreciate it.

Rating:
Summary: funny, original and very entertaining
Review: "Cold Comfort Farm" is one of those wonderful films directed by the late, great, John Schlesinger. I only wish that more Americans knew about it! This was actually first broadcast on the BBC and was then brought to movie houses (predominantly, arthouse and independent). It couldn't have been released at a more appropriate time. (I believe it was between 1995 or 1996 when Jane Austen was all the rage.) We had our pick of either the prim and well-polished "Pride and Prejudice," "Sense and Sensibility" or "Emma." Then, there was "Cold Comfort Farm." This film was set in an entirely more modern time period (1920s or 1930s, I believe).

The story revolves around Flora Poste, a young, fashionable orphan who comes to stay with the Starkadder family, and proceeds to turn the family's long-accepted, modest lifestyle on its head. Flora turns matchmaker, housekeeper and so much more in such a short time. Anything considered proper and well-accepted is questioned by the young Ms. Poste, and almost anything is possible when she decides it is!

The cast is great! The wonderful Eileen Atkins, as the matriarch, Judith, has a face only a mother could love, and makes great use of it to her advantage--playing it up to look particularly miserable and long-suffereing. The randy Seth Starkadder, is played by the greasy Rufus Sewell, who will go for a roll in the hay with just about any damsel at any time. Nauseatingly convincing....oy vey! And, let's not forget the appearance put in by the wonderful Sir Ian McKellan.

I believe this film has real cross-over appeal and is definitely not a chick flick. From what I recall, from the demographic of audience members in the theatre that day, both men and women shared some seriously hearty belly laughs over the rich and humorous material. I think it stands the test of time, nearly ten years later. Come on, people! See this film. Spread the word.......