82
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasIt's been brought to the screen by director John Schlesinger and writer Malcolm Bradbury with such deftness, giving it a life of its own, that it's not necessary for audiences to be familiar with the literature it satirizes.
- 90Washington PostHal HinsonWashington PostHal HinsonThe filmmakers have done a beautiful job of preserving the satirical snap of Gibbons's original. But the real joy of Cold Comfort Farm is watching these actors play so freely and exuberantly off each other.
- 80Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonThanks to Schlesinger's exacting direction and Malcolm Bradbury's witty, restrained script, these characters are kept more amusing than horribly pitiable.
- 78Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleTogether the cast, the director, and the screenwriter work to make the characters off-centered but realistic, with plenty of room for warmth.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe movie, based on the famous comic novel by Stella Gibbons, is dour, eccentric and very funny, and depends on the British gift for treating madness as good common sense.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThere's nothing deep or meaningful to be unearthed in this feel-good comedy, but it nevertheless makes for solid entertainment.
- 75San Francisco ExaminerBarbara ShulgasserSan Francisco ExaminerBarbara ShulgasserIn the attempt to rein in a cast playing a great assortment of exaggerated types, Schlesinger (who directed "Midnight Cowboy" and "Marathon Man" ) and Bradbury sometimes lose the tone of the movie.
- 70The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinMr. Schlesinger draws lively performances out of his cast and surprising variety out of the film's secondary sights, which range from a gala soiree to a heap of steaming dung.
- 70Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumI've never read Stella Gibbons's popular English novel of 1932--a parody of the romantic rural novels that Mary Webb wrote during the 20s--but director John Schlesinger and adapter Malcolm Bradbury have gotten plenty of enjoyable mileage out of it.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannCold Comfort Farm may be hysterically funny to regular readers of Hardy, Lawrence, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, but it won't ring many bells for the rest of us.