Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

samkan I don't assign many films a "10" as such should be awarded only the truly great ones that come around a few times a decade; e.g., CITIZEN KANE, THE GODFATHER, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, etc. But DEAN SPANLEY is so emotionally enjoyable (at the same time avoiding the "deep" movie genre) that it must be given something to distinguish it from the tearjerker weepy slop that shamelessly tug at one's heart stings; e.g., TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, DRIVING MISS DAISY, MOONSTRUCK, etc. True, the first half of DS not only gives no indication whatsoever of where it is headed but appears intentionally disparate in approach. For such reason a viewer might almost lose interest - as I came close to doing. But the character performances, Neil and O'Toole in particular - mildly comic - eventually turn captivating. Like other COMMENTERs herein, given commercial concerns and what passes for entertainment these day, I'm amazed that this film even got made. I'd forgotten that a movie could do something for me like DS did. Imagine a film being both reverent and irreverent at the same time. The result is relevance. And marvelous. I gush. Watch the movie.

patrick powell The puzzle is why this film was ever made in the first place, though I hasten to add that I don't mean that as any kind of criticism. It is a gentle, rather whimsical and moving piece which I can't think would find a mass audience anywhere much, though that, too, is not meant as criticism.To put it all in perspective: thank goodness there are some people around in the film world prepared to produce films of this calibre for apparently no other reason than that they like films and like making good ones. It is a British and New Zealand co-production which astutely avoids all the pitfalls many smaller scale British films fall into. Its lightness of touch is admirable where all too often Brit films are just a tad heavy-handed and suffer as a result. There is only a small cast – just five main characters – and the story itself is superficially slight, yet it packs a punch which touches true emotion rather than mere sentimental whimsy. It would be unfair to pick out any particular performance because none stands out above the others – they are all excellent, as is the gently witty screenplay.Its evocation of Edwardian Britain is all the better for being understated – this is no 'period piece' and thus avoids the horrors just beneath the surface which many a 'period piece' singularly fails to avoid. My advice to everyone is to watch this and savour everything about it. If you like well-made films, you will probably love this. I shan't bother to provide a synopsis because that would be thoroughly misleading. There's far more to this than meets the eye.

Harry T. Yung Despite some belief to the contrary, "Venus" last year was absolutely not this great actor's last Oscar bid. I hope he gets it this year with "Dean Spanley". If not, he will return.Despite the title role which was wonderfully performed by Sam Neill, "Dean Spanley" is O'Toole's film. Structurally, it is akin to a male choral quartet, but O'Toole is "the soul of the film" as the TIFF program aptly puts it.You could call this a period piece but the story is so universal that it could have taken place anywhere, any time. O'Toole portrays a desolate old man Fisk who has lost his younger son in the Boer War and his wife grieving her son. His good-natured elder son Fisk Jr. (Jeremy Northam) visits him every Thursday trying to bring some spark back into his life, with no avails. Upper lip at it stiffest, Fisk responds to his club's attendant's consoling words with fierce stare and: "Our lost? He is the one that got killed".This film, however, is a comedy, the kind of comedy with pathos that brings the entire theatre to a complete silence and then tears, after rounds of hearty laughs. The laughs are mainly British subtlety and can at times be also outlandishly funny. The fun comes mainly from Spanley, a somewhat eccentric character shrouded in a whiff of mystery. Attracted initially by Spanley's fascination with reincarnation, Fisk Jr. courts his friendship by offering to provide the exquisite Tokay wine while giving a dinner invitation. He does not have any. "It's not a lie; just deferred truth", Fisk Jr. says to himself, and proceeds to try to procure the rare prize he promised, which leads him to earthy, ever resourceful Wrather (Byran Brown) who completes the quartet.The pleasure of this simple, affecting and eventually wonderfully heart-warming film is best left to be discovered by the audience. The cast is marvelous, including, in addition to the four men, Judy Parfitt who plays Fisk's housekeeper Mrs Brimley so lovingly. But in the end, it's Peter O'Toole.

trails369 This film is a masterpiece with a great script, patiently building to a crescendo, delivered by skilled charming actors.Once upon a time, more than hundred years ago, before Google, before computers, before television, before movies, before radio, intelligent people still quested for understanding. If you are curious about reincarnation you might go to a public lecture and be aware of other people in the audience. The mysteries of why pain comes into your life, what gives happiness, can a soul survive death is the same in any century, and a quiet persistent pursuit yields result.The other reviewers do an excellent job of telling of Fisk Jr. Trying through weekly visits to thaw his curmudgeon distant father. was the father always abrasive and bitter? Will he always be so? What unlocks the emotions is a shaggy dog story. Somehow the aroma of a rare wine enjoyed by Dean Spanley unlocks the acute sense of smell of a dead spaniel, who lives again to tell his adventure. This is the adventure of the three astonished men and you the audience. It is more emotionally rewarding than all the explosions and chases and violence that are not in this film.