Stiff Upper Lips

For anyone who has seen Howards End, Enchanted April, A Passage to India, Carrington, and especially A Room with a View, this is a side-splitter. Though aiming mostly at Merchant-Ivory films, this piece takes on that entire category of films centered on the lives and loves of stuffy late-Victorian and Edwardian Brits of the upper class. Some of the gags are film specific like Edward opening his window in Rome to find a brick wall or character names like Reverend Dweeb. Others, like Emily's panicked flight through a hedge maze the size of closet are broader. I found the entire cast, especially Prunella Scales as Aunt Agnes, to be spot-on perfect. It helps that Scales and West (as Edward) were actually featured in Howards End. Peter Ustinov is also grand as batty Horace. Whether you love or hate this kind of movie, Stiff Upper Lips is a kick.

This is a hilarious film designed to appeal to Anglophiles, particularly those who enjoyed Fawlty Towers and Monty Python. It is a takeoff on all those wearisome and often thought-provoking Masterpiece Theater films many of us know well. Only the British themselves could have made such glorious fun of this genre. I would give this the highest rating possible.

This is a hilarious film designed to appeal to Anglophiles, particularly those who enjoyed Fawlty Towers and Monty Python. It is a takeoff on all those wearisome and often thought-provoking Masterpiece Theater films many of us know well. Only the British themselves could have made such glorious fun of this genre. Five stars.

This film kept me laughing all the way. Prunella Scales alone cracked me up totally! The Bonham-Carter parody was indeed weak. That was a pity, since she is the crown princess of Merchant-Ivory Land. Samuel West was brilliant at mocking the characters he DIDN'T play in the real Merchant-Ivory pieces. His fan scene with friend was fabulous. Ustinov didn't try very hard, as usual in his later career. But, as a Merchant-Ivory junky, I have to say that I was delighted at the opportunity to laugh at myself for being such a sucker for their formula. If you watch this film, you must be prepared to lighten up, or else it will be wasted on you.

"Stiff Upper Lips" pokes fun at the crustiness of the British upper crust as it follows a silly ensemble of aristocrats from England to Italy to India and back. Those who groan at puns and mutter "humph!" at wry humor will likely enjoy "SUL" while those who don't will suffer the opposite reaction. How enjoyable this film is will depend solely on the sense of humor of the viewer. Funny or not, "SUL" is undeniably a jolly well done spoof.