Rating: 
Summary: one of my favorite movies!!!!!
Review: Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins provide acting the way it used to be. The setting of this movie alone is a treat for anyone who adores England, let alone a wonderful story and great casting. I absolutely love this movie, if you are caught up in the romance of England and all its traditions, this is a movie you would love too.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great.
Review: Anthony Hopkins as always has played here just great. I think this role suited him very well. Emma Tompson played good, too, though not so well as Anthony; besides, we see her more seldom as her workmate.I liked this film very much. Why I put 4 stars instead of 5? Well, actually, I could put 3,2 or even 1. We feel a great and real English epoch, see great costumes, way of communication between people etc.... ... nevertheless, it's a very good movie, with good playing, music and scenery (I just love England's lands!) which would teach you some lessons of butlers of that time.
Rating:
Summary: Superb acting, heartbreaking story
Review: These characters are so incredibly real... you've met them before... shy and reserved, but respectful and full of love in their hearts. One is brave enough to peek out of the veil of shyness but the other is not... locking themselves away in lonlieness and isolation when they could have true happiness. Hopkins is the head butler in a stately mansion where he is the butler's butler. It is a job he takes more seriously than most presidents have probably taken their jobs. He is the consumate professional and expects the same from his fellow servants in the manor. Emma Thompson is the head housekeeper who threatens to steal Hopkin's heart, if he'll only let her. While there a couple of light-hearted moments to break the tension, this isn't a "feel-good" film and definitely not a "pick-me-up" if you're depressed. This is a superbly acted, filmed and directed masterpiece of the cinema. This is a must-see if you like good film, a good story, great acting and characters you'll never forget. The film will also make you look at yourself and recognize opportunities lost.
Rating:
Summary: Anthony Hopkins - the greatest actor of these days
Review: Watch this movie and you'll see why Anthony Hopkins is considered by many as the greatest actor of these days. Definetely a oscar-worthly.
Rating:
Summary: WHY NO DVD? One of the finest films ever made!
Review: I will not recap plot or storyline. I will simply agree with the other reviewers. Sir Anthony Hopkins is very deserving of his title. He is undoubtedly the finest actor today. Emma Thompson is magnificent in this film. The story, the acting, the directing, the cinematography, the score are all perfect. This movie demonstrates the ability to thoroughly entertain without violence or vulgarity.
Rating:
Summary: Superb - emotionally wrenching and fascinating
Review: Before I say anything else about Remains of the Day, I have to comment on what struck me most about the film - how it is paced. This might seem like a fairly unimportant attribute of a film, but in Remains of the Day, the flow of the film borders on perfect. The direction glides along effortlessly, with excellent editing and camerawork to boot. Not once did I feel a scene lingered to long, or was cut short. The movie's content matters, too, of course, and it is wonderful. Hopkins and Thompson are fantastic, and their relationship is one of the most involving and heartbreaking I've ever scene of film. The subplot concerning James Fox's character's flirtations with foreign policy in the darkest of times is also fascinating, and Ivory does a great job of giving all of the those scenes an eerily grand, yet hopeless atmosphere. After the film was over, I was left subdued and contemplative, and, even with all of the repressed emotions and tragic choices that inhabited the landscape of the picture, longed for the haunting world it portrayed. I know I'm in the minority, but I believe this film is superior to Schinder's List. It would have won best picture in almost any other year.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Character Study and Beautiful Period Piece!
Review: This is a brilliant drama of repressed emotions. The acting is simply masterful, Anthony Hopkins does an excellent job at showing us a very complex human being but also makes us understand him and care for him. Emma Thompson is also excellent as the housekeeper who is secretly in love with Hopkins. Christopher Reeve, James Fox and Hugh Grant are also great in support. As with all Merchant-Ivory films this one is a feast for the eyes, beautiful sets and costumes expertly recreate the era. Brilliantly smart screenplay also features some healthy doses of wit. Beautifully done, with great attention to detail. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 9!
Rating:
Summary: A work of art and a great interpretation of the book!
Review: This is one of the very best books I have ever read and I was terrified when I heard that it was going to be filmed. When I heard that they picked Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins to play the two main caracters of the book I was even more scared. Why? Because the higher you jump from the more painful the fall may be. But not in this case; The film is very good, with fabulous actors and brilliant acting, a great achievement that has its own value and its own identity with a very valid and impressive interpretation of the book. Ishiguro once said in a interview that "one uses memory for ones own purpose, one's own ends" and that is why he writes in the first person form, to be able to follow somebody's thoughts around," as they trip themself up or try to hide from themself". I think The remains of the day is Ishiguros way of telling us to live to day and to grasp love when and if you find it and not to wait until you are old. The movie is great and anyone who worked on it or with it should be very proud of themselves, from Ishiguro himself, the casting people and the director and specially Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins. Lovely! Read the book and then see the movie. You can even see the movie first and then read the book and that is not often you can do!
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPEACE
Review: I have seen HOWARD'S END and i thought it was great,but Merchant-Ivory have outdone themselves with this film. The story centres around Mr Stevens{Anthnoy Hopkins} a Butler in Darlington Hall. Many of the scenes are done in flashback. As he reflects on life with Lord Darlington{James Fox}. He realizes how misguided his loyaties were to Lord Darlington. Mr Stevens was so commited to his work that practically destroed his personal life. When his father is dying upstairs he still serves drinks. Also he pushes away the one woman who truly loves him,this being Miss Kenton the "very capable" Housekeeper. This book is done totally through Mr Stevens mind so I would have thought it would not be suitable to be made into a movie, but M-I have proved me wrong. This film manages to balance the plot and sub-plot perfectly without harming either. Hopkins and Thompson give the performances of their lives. Hopkins makes Mr Stevens seem more than simply cold and uncaring but a man who is attractive and kind,but who unfortunately cannot let his feeling known ,so much is the restraint of his office. Hopkins lets us see his feelings in so sutle way with simply an eye movement or eyebrow, never letting go of the veneer of control but you can feel that underneath he is terrable pain. Miss Kenton sees that MrStevens has qualities wit and responbility. Emma Thompson plays her as an independent ,spirted,inteligent woman who unfotunalely falls in love with a man who can never express his feelings for because of duty and repression. Your empathy is more with her in the end. As she tries to anything to get him to open up to her. The scenes particulaly at the end are heart-wrenching. One scene paricualy touched me was when she comes back late after anousing she is leaving and Mr Stevens is angry with her probally out of jeasouy, Miss Kenton believes that if she can hurt or make him angry enough it might force him to admit his feeling. The plan back fires and all she manages to do is hurt him and herself even more. If you are looking for a simple love story with passionate love scenes then this is not for you, but if you are looking for an interesting ,thought provoking story of repressed love and misguided loyaties then this for you.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking and haunting
Review: To be honest, I've been bored by some Merchant-Ivory movies but I found this one to be absolutely devastating. Anthony Hopkins--always great--has never been better than he is here. Watching him miss the opportunity to be truly happy with a woman who clearly loves him is to experience one of the cinema's great tragedies. And Emma Thompson radiates warmth and sadness as that woman who sees beyond Hopkins's cold exterior to the romantic sap beneath. This movie is painful to watch but I'll never forget it. It will always be a reminder to me of the indescribable sadness that comes with life's "might-have-been's".
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