Rating: 
Summary: Brian Hathaway
Review: I've watched Topsy Turvy twice so far and it's becoming one that I will watch over and over again anticipating enjoying some new facet of the presentation each time. I am a Gilbert and Sullivan fan, and the staging of the Mikado in the film is a delight. If you enjoy music and watching the creative process unfold, you will find this movie a pleasure to watch. Mike Leigh's direction brings out the best in the actors and the staging, transporting the viewer back into Victorian England as W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan struggle with the task of providing Richard D'Oyly Carte's Savoy Theatre with yet another successful operetta.An interesting sidelight to the film is that all the actors are actually singing or playing the instruments portrayed in the movie. Although some rate this movie as a little long, I found that the time passed quickly on both viewing occasions. The only scene I found a little out of place was the French bordello scene with Sullivan, which didn't fit with the overall tenor of the film. All in all however, Topsy Turvy is a delighful film well worth watching. It is definitely on my list of keepers.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying
Review: This movie is like the music of Gilbert and Sullivan...you either love it or hate it. I fall into the latter group. Thie story was tedious, jumped all over the place and was too overdone.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful!
Review: My husband and I had the great luck to see this in an old fashioned, big screen one-movie theater, and fell in love with it. It is absolutely wonderful entertainment! We've rented it 3 times since it came out! I recommend it to anyone...if you love Gilbert and Sullivan, you'll love this! If you aren't familiar with them, Topsy Turvy will make you a big fan of them. Go for it! It's incredibly enjoyable!
Rating: 
Summary: A slow starter, but worth it
Review: The only fault I can make of this film is that it cannot seem to decide between being the story of the inspiration and creation of "The Mikado", or life in the theater of 1885 London. As the former it does an outstanding job. As the latter, it presents a great deal of ancillary information that, while interesting, slows the movie down. In particular, the first 40 minutes contains much more background on Sir Arthur Sullivan than is necessary, including a rather bizarre scene in a Parisian brothel that I suspect was solely responsible for the film's "R" rating. Once the impasse between Gilbert and Sullivan is broken by the creation of "The Mikado", the film takes off. The rehearsal scenes are delightful; humorous and well performed. The actual performance scenes are equally so. The music is infectious. This film gets better each time I watch it. Gilbert and Sullivan fans won't need much convincing but with a slow start and daunting length it is, admittedly, asking a lot of the audience. With such fine performances, it is worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: A hoot and a half
Review: Whether or not you enjoy Gilbert and Sullivan, and specifically "The Mikado" this film is simply not to be missed. Irrespective of what your friends told you, this isn't too long, and it doesn't have too much of the production of the underlying opera. The story operates on so many levels, and the performances are so uniformly terrific, that I couldn't come up with a frame I would have edited out. The two leads are phenomenal, and several of the supporting players give perfomances that, in a more mainstream film would have elicited Oscar nominations. Particularly impressive is Timothy Spall, a British actor of astounding depth and with an utterly amazing range of characters lurking inside him. The music and production numbers balance and pace the main story so flawlessly, the 161 minutes of this wonderful piece simply fly by. Worth every penny!
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED IT BUT NOT EVERYONE WILL - UPDATE TO EARLIER REVIEW
Review: As you will note from reading the reviews, some people found this movie a bore! And that's Okay! I saw TT in Dallas at a preview attended by the local Gilbert and Sullivan Society, as well as others of us who managed to get a ticket. I loved it from the first moment and laughed my fool head off - until I realized hardly anyone else was laughing. Adult people actually left and one young lady told me she would have liked it more if there "had not been so much music in it." The music of Gilbert and Sullivan has been little heard in the last thirty years or so. And frankly, most people either really love it or really hate it. My father raised my sister and I on Gilbert and Sullivan - it played all day every Sunday on our Victrola - and it is something I truly love and appreciate. With this said, if I had to sit through a Wagnerian opera, I would be a nervous wreck, because I don't like or understand this composer's work. I took my best friend to this screening, and could tell that she was bored through some of it, and exhausted by the nearly three hour length. If you are familiar with Gilbert and Sullivan, love music, enjoy satrical wit, this is a great movie. But don't push friends to go and see it. Gilbert and Sullivan are almost like an "inside joke" nowadays. My friends loved "The Green Mile" - I feel asleep watching it and I never could get through "Dances with Wolves". I think home video is a real treasure, as everyone can indulged their own tastes - also, you can laugh louder at home!
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: This movie was delightful, and that is from someone who is not a particularly big Gilbert & Sullivan fan. I have always loved Mike Leigh's work and this one didn't disappoint. It's quite different from say, Life is Sweet or Secrets and Lies, but it is very, very well done. Watch this movie when you have some time to relax, it's not a fast paced quickie, but rather a two and a half hour film that is meant to be savored and enjoyed. The acting is superb, the costumes enchanting and the music is entertaining. It's also pretty funny, in typical Mike Leigh fashion. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: Excellently cast, G&S purists will love it!
Review: Mike Leigh went to every painstaking effort to produce this film and the result is a brillinatly-cast, beautifully-staged, utterly-delightful account of the year surrounding the production of Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera, The Mikado. What can I say about the cast? They are all fabulous! Not one actor is mis-cast in this production. Aside from the obviously first-rate performances of Broadbent and Corduner as the movie's primaries, the supporting cast turns in an outstanding performance. Most notable to me is newcomer Martin Savage as the brilliant (but flawed) George Grossmith. Shirley Henderson is also fabulous as Leonora Braham. Timothy Spall as Richard Temple and Dorothy Adkinson as Jessie Bond also help make the musical numbers in this movie look like part of a Mikado G&S purists would be delighted to see. Even after 2 1/2 hours, this film left me wanting more. Everything about it is splendid!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Musical Comedy on Film in Years
Review: First of all, let's get this straight. I love musical comedy, especially those with gorgeous staging, period costumes, unforgetable melodies and witty and clever lyrics. That's why I treasure Gilbert and Sullivan and love this film. It's a wowser. Perfectly cast, wonderfully written, neither treacley sweet nor boringly virtual as to the persona, quirks, and strangely complimentary genii of two Victorian toffs who collectively produced some of the most joyously clever and irreverent musical comedies in history. They invented the double entendre, patter music and topsy-turvy plots in a smug hypocritically moralistic era when both churches and brothels thrived. The public loved it then and you will too. The movie itself is about the production of G&S's greatest hit, The Mikado. It provides a wonderful insight into how such a production was developed, produced, rehearsed and put-on in the 19th century and how it still enchants and beguiles in the 21st. There is one little naughty scene in a Paris whore-house that lasts for about 90 seconds, but I'm sure the kiddies (over 13) have seen worse on PBS or the Internet. Just tell them it's Offenbach at it's best. It might keep the older ones interested. Get it. Watch it. Watch it again. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A Delightful Film, Gloriously Eccentric Comedy!
Review: One of the best films of 1999. Meticulously crafted, gloriously comic and quite possibly the greatest musical biopic of the past decades. Expertly directed by Mike Leigh he brilliantly captures the times and characters creating a mood of comic eccentricity that elevated it way above normal Hollywood fare. An unforgettable comic depiction of the creative process as we see the travails of Gilbert & Sullivan in making one of their most famous collaborations; 'The Mikado'. From the springing of the idea (in a priceless scene) to wardrobe and rehearsals leading to the ultimate presentation in a wonderfully touching ending. Allan Corduner delivers a towering performance as Sullivan and Jim Broadbent is almost as good as Gilbert. Inspired casting and acting all around and Timothy Spall (a Leigh regular) stands out as a veteran actor. Great makeup and gorgeous set design and costumes. Great musical numbers and inspired bits of comedy abound. A wonderful film that has a lot to offer. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 9!
| 
