Three Men in a Boat

This delightful and charming movie is wonderfully faithful to the book by Jerome K. Jerome, and is just as funny. I discovered it back in 1978, looking for other roles that Tim Curry had played, and this has become one of my favorite movies of all time. Gently humorous and full of beautiful scenery, the story of three young gentlemen going on a holiday down the Thames can't help but make one laugh.

Finally, this excellent adaptation is available on DVD in the UK (Region 2 DVD), but can be played on region-free DVD players in the US, or one a computer's DVD player if it's set temporarily to Region 2, or made region-free. I've seen it available at several UK retailers online.

I've been waiting since 1978 for a professional release of this delightful little film. :-) jfk

Tim Curry, Michael Palin, and Stephen Moore are three Victorian men who are enervated by their strenuous life in London. They decide that a row up to Oxford and back is just the thing, despite the indifference of the dog. They set out, well caparisoned for anything that might arise, but not for anything that actually does.

Tom Stoppard wrote the screenplay for this TV movie. In his own words, he had no idea of which bits were supposed to be funny. The result is an engaging idyll under the direction of Stephen Frears about the happy vagueness of younger sons of the middle class, intermingled with lovely shots of the upper Thames and various monuments to obscure people.

Yet another classic piece of TV drama that isn't available anywhere in any format - no VHS, no DVD. Shame!

The casting, the costumes, the writing, the direction - all perfect. Features all the most memorable bits of the book, all perfectly adapted to the screen. I only wish it had been longer.

Please, someone release this on DVD.

Tim Curry was the reason I wanted to see this, and he's hilarious in it, particularly in one scene where he reads a book about diseases and is convinced he has them all. The piece has a very droll quality and a light touch (courtesy of Frears' excellent direction). Well worth seeking out.

For a short TV movie, this has some impressive talent, with direction and writing from, respectively, Stephen Frears and Tom Stoppard, and a surprisingly low key performance from Tim Curry and good ones from Michael Palin and someone I've never heard of.

The book is apparently very popular in England, with a mix of humor, sentimentality and self mocking the English seem particular fond of, and the movie is clearly done by people who feel that fondness towards the source.

Like the book, there are parts that are quite amusing, and like the books, there are parts that are more travelogue. The balance is a little more toward the travelogue here, surprisingly, although these parts drag less in the movie than in the book.

It's a quiet, sly sort of humor and a charming, small, elegantly done movie. It's not as good as the book, but it's very enjoyable.