SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Cortechba Overrated

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

HotToastyRag Where do I start with Georgy Girl? There's so much to love about this movie. It's one of my favorite movies of all time, and for years, the name Georgina was at the top of my baby names list. In essence, it's about a girl, who isn't classically beautiful and who has very low self-esteem, learning who she is and what she wants out of life.Lynn Redgrave, in an Oscar-nominated role, stars as Georgy. She puts so much into her character to make Georgy likable and accessible to the audience. A modern Georgy would undoubtedly have so much attitude it would be sickening, but Lynn's attitude is almost farcical. She sasses Bill Owen, her father, but not because she has any real hatred or meanness in her heart; she's just acting like a kid who feels ashamed that her parent isn't proud of her. It's tricky to play a late-coming-of-age character without the audience thinking you're just enormously immature, and Lynn nails it. She's curious, afraid, self-deprecating, hopeful, and gutsy. Obviously, this is a very personal film to me, and obviously I'm partial to Lynn Redgrave's character rather than Charlotte Rampling's. Those who favor the other side might not like the movie as much.Charlotte Rampling plays Lynn's roommate and pseudo-friend. She's everything Lynn's character isn't: beautiful, thin, sexy, controlled, and calculating. She and her boyfriend Alan Bates are easy to hate, but since Lynn hasn't grown into her own yet, she insists on hanging out with them and comparing herself to Charlotte. While it is very black-and-white about which is the good and bad girl, Charlotte is still written as a realistic character. There are people out there who are just as vile and heartless as she is.James Mason, also in an Oscar-nominated role, steals the screen starting with the fantastic build-up to his entrance scene. In the original novel, James Mason's character is written to be very large and unappealing, which is the largest change from the page to the screen. James, even though he has a few miles on him, is enormously appealing. He's charming, witty, generous, patient, and above all, he appreciates Georgy in ways no one else does. He's so fantastic in this movie, it's impossible to dislike him, even though it's obvious he wouldn't have even been cast if it weren't for Lolita. Only James Mason's wonderfully imitative voice can deliver the lines with their full potential. "She was a beautiful woman . . . beautiful, tolerant, civilized . . . and about as exciting as a half brick." "Lace! Lots of, you know, lace!" And there's my favorite, a quote so famous in my house, we say it almost as often as we say "James Mason" in his own accent: "I'm forty-nine. Notice that, not fifty." Seriously, no one but James Mason can say "forty-nine" in such a quotable way.Everyone knows I'm partial to older men, but it's not my bias that adores James Mason in Georgy Girl. He's incredibly charming, powerful, and observant; the sparks fly between him and Lynn so much that even a benign peck on the cheek feels like a master seduction. Georgy Girl is a classic sixties comedy-drama, complete with awkward music, and a newfound focus on sex that ten years earlier wouldn't have been shown on film. Pregnancy, abortion, premarital sex-only in 1966 could these topics be so tactfully treated. Any earlier and they'd have to be written out of the script; any later and they'd be treated more explicitly and without tact. Any remake of Georgy Girl would have several gratuitous sex scenes, when the lengthy kiss scenes in the 1966 film are clear enough for the plot's purpose. Margaret Forster, authoress of the original novel, and Peter Nichols have written a timeless classic that doesn't shy away from taboo topics and treats them with the gravity they deserve.Whether you rent it because you've never heard of James Mason and are in the mood for a new celebrity boyfriend, or because you know what it's like to feel and be treated like you're ugly, or because you need inspiration to come out of your shell, you'll be in for a wonderful movie night. Plus, you'll get to see Lynn Redgrave doll up in full '60s splendor and belt, "It takes a whole lot of lovin' just to keep this baby happy!" while dancing her way down the staircase.

lhhung_himself It is hard to find words to describe to this generation the extent of the condemnation that girls "in trouble" faced 50 years ago.Films like Pagnol's "Fanny" or Demy's "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" poignantly illustrated the difficult choice between romantic love and contracting oneself out to ensure that one's child would not face society's all too real retribution.In that context, Georgy Girl is an extremely bold film that turned the Fanny tale on its head, playfully mocking the absurdity of the situation and cleverly empowering the victim. However, it manages to rise above "message" pieces such as "Guess who's coming to dinner" by carefully treading the line between reality and satire and always respecting the basic humanity of the characters.The spot-on performances of the cast, especially Redgrave make this fun to watch and easy for modern audiences to relate, even after the softening of the attitudes that the film gently mocks.Much like the Seeker's opening theme - very 60's but still catchy and fun...

InigoDeMontoya I was in high school when the movie came out but I was forbidden to see "Georgy Girl" as being too risqué in 1966 but I remembered the theme song fondly So when I inherited a VHS copy from my dad's movie collection, I thought I'd make up for a lost opportunity 40+ years later and my wife and I watched it the other night. Bleah.A comedy? It lacks that quality of humor that the ancient Greeks called "being funny." The characters: Georgy (Lynn Redgrave), a homespun girl-next-door type, a bit frumpy, a bit overweight, a bit dim, and more than a bit self-pitying. She seems to occupy herself teaching some sort of creative movement/dance class for children age 8 and younger and one gathers the impression that that's about her intellectual limit.Her roommate, Meredith, is a self-centered little tart whose life centers around the next party, the next man.Her man of the moment, Jos, is a spineless, feckless, immature, serially inappropriate in multiple dimensions, toad with a constant appetite for sex (okay, he *is* male).Georgy's father works as a chauffeur for James, a wealthy businessman of the staggeringly old (as portrayed in the film) age of 49-almost-50 who wants Georgy to become his mistress.There are none of these characters that you willingly identify with, sympathize with, or otherwise root for.With the theme song as a touchstone and Georgy's frumpy looks, I suppose I was waiting for a "Pygmalion" story that never happened. Instead, we were treated to inane people making a squalid bunch of life.Even the closing credits were a disappointment because the theme song comes back with a verse that either I had never heard or else had never registered before, a verse where Georgy is told, "Hey, even if it's not so great, at least you're now married to a millionaire." Bleah. In short, this movie sucks dead fish with a straw (this is a cinematic critical term).

samkan I remember buying the 45 rpm record "Georgy Girl" with my paper route money. And teasing the kid named George in our class. I also seem to recall that this was a film of some acclaim and noteworthiness back then. So I was intrigued when I brought it home from our our county library (as well as having been advised for forty years by the song lyrics).I wasn't just disappointed, I was annoyed. Such a shallow, superficial plot with a convenient and contrived ending! Early in the film we learn Georgy has a rich suitor, instantly determining that such is too facile and material a road for our heroine to take. Georgy then undergoes a variety of life experiences before her epiphany -without an ounce of compromise- to, duh, marry the rich guy. Worse, said career move appears to result from a direct rejection of the problems resulting from not having a ton of money.The pop version song "Georgy Girl" fades out with calls to better oneself; e.g., "The World will see...A new Georgy Girl...Wake up Georgy... Wake up Georgy Girl". Adding insult to injury, I almost fell off my Lazy Boy when, to the same accompaniment, the film ends, "You're rich Georgy Girl!...You're rich Georgy Girl!...". Well at least we now know what's important.Alan Bates overacts as one of the most irritating characters I've ever suffered though. Given my whimsical memory, idea, etc., of what I thought this movie was, I wish I had not seen it!