A Chorus of Disapproval

Although this movie has a screenplay by Alan Ayckbourn(AND Michael Winner) it is a sad(and pale) reflection of the stage play. The (hamfisted) direction by Michael Winner has turned what should be witty light comedy,into a slow dreary and turgid drama. It may have the same plot,and basically the same script as the original stage version,but allow Michael Winner to touch it and it becomes boring. What is worse is the misuse and waste of a great cast. I have never (conciously) seen a Michael Winner film before,and going by this never will again. My (newly acquired) DVD is going straight to the charity shop! PS:~ I saw the stage play when it was premiered in 1984.

Most brilliant about the script is that "The Beggar's Opera" is being staged and as Jeremy Iron's character progresses through the narrative, many of his experiences mimic MacHeath's -- a phenomenon underlined by the score. So, familiarity with the source material makes for a brilliant movie. It might appear very light without that familiarity - also the twisted ending requires some knowledge of another stock theatre piece. Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Irons and Prunella Scales are utterly thorough - This is the first movie I ever bought, back in the dark pre-internet days when it had to be seriously hunted for. Sound quality is a bit poor and Anthony Hopkins' Welsh accent is a bit thick for those of us who rarely hear one.

Saw this, rather incongruously, with Spanish subtitles in a hotel in deepest, darkest Mexico... and made me feel a little homesick with its warm but too-close-to-the-bone portrayal of provincial English life. Lost dreams and opportunities, and eating chips in your car, staring at the gloomy sea and drizzle. Beautiful.

This is not an easy film to rate, or at least from personal experience. It has a fair share of people that have defended it, which is absolutely fine by me, but others have outright hated it. The play itself is very clever, very witty with well drawn characters carefully crafted. My biggest reason for seeing 'A Chorus of Disapproval' was the cast, so many great actors in what is essentially a creme a la creme who's who of British talent. Part of me did want to like it, being someone who is no stranger to amateur theatrics.

While 'A Chorus of Disapproval' is a long way from unwatchable, a large part of me couldn't help be disappointed at the same time. All the cast have done better before and since and deserved better, in material that should have suited them to the ground but they are not flattered very well. Despite Alan Ayckburn being on board adapting his own play, it was like it was written by somebody else. It also feels that comedy and Michael Winner do not mix.

Not everything is bad. Scarborough's atmosphere and charm has remained unscathed. Can find no fault with the music, which would still be great regardless of how it was treated. There are moments of wit and charm and there are moments where the send up portrayal of amateur theatrics is on the nose dead on.

Some of the cast do quite well, Jeremy Irons in a role that mirrors that of Macheath in 'The Beggar's Opera', sporting good comic timing and a pleasant singing voice, and Prunella Scales, playing her role with gusto, coming off best. Jenny Seagrove has charming moments too.

Anthony Hopkins was somewhat more puzzling though. He does give it absolutely everything and he can be funny, but he can be too over-forceful and the hamminess he shows in scenes unbalances the film a bit. And how can a film etc. waste Richard Briers and Lionel Jeffries with giving them far too little to do, with what they have not flattering them particularly well? It is great to see all the different kind of personalities one sees in this environment but the depth was missing.

Despite always trying to judge adaptations on their own terms, it is hard to not make exceptions when something is so far removed in quality from its source material, the case here. The heavy truncations do hurt the film, too much of the comedy lacks wit, any social satire that is intact tends to not be sharp enough, there is a very cold feel throughout, no real subtlety and have seen more insightful and energetic depictions of amateur operatic/dramatic societies. The energy is gone and replaced by a dreariness that can become tedious in longer scenes. With the cuts to the script and music, the relevance of 'The Beggar's Opera' is lost or at least not as clear. Winner's direction doesn't suit the material and has too much of a heavy touch, axes have more subtlety. There is too much of a mid-70s television series look to the photography and the sound is not always well balanced.

In conclusion, personally didn't disapprove of 'A Chorus of Disapproval' but it doesn't have enough to have my approval. Odd film and should have been better considering the play and cast, can see that there are people here that liked it and hold nothing against them but for me it was odd and underwhelming. 5/10

I never had the Alan Ayckbourn play to prejudice me while watching this delightful Michael Winner picture. I have seen some terrible reviews but felt I wanted to give an unbiased opinion for anyone thinking of watching this. Indeed, Alan Ayckbourn even collaborated on the screenplay with Winner so perhaps he felt it needed a different viewpoint as a movie, rather than as a play, who knows. Regardless of that, I just watched it as a movie and was surprisingly entertained. Jeremy Irons play Guy, recovering from the death of his wife, joins an amateur dramatic society headed by a bull of man, played with extraordinary gusto by Anthony Hopkins, a terrific performance, completed not long before he embarked on Silence of The Lambs, so he was at the top of his game. Irons is rather naïve and gets involved with rather seductive female members of the cast, at first, rather bewildered but then throwing himself in with enthusiasm. Prunella Scales gives a lovely, heartfelt performance as the frustrated wife of Anthony Hopkins who almost immediately falls in love with the tall handsome Irons. Jenny Seagrove is another seductress, although her motives are something more to do with a land deal that Irons is supposed to be able to secure for her and her husband (Gareth Hunt). Having a smattering of operetta knowledge will help the viewer as the cast are performing "The Beggar's Opera" with cast members constantly dropping out only to eventually hand the lead of Macheath to the inexperienced Irons. There is broad farce and pathos in Winner's direction which I really enjoyed and although Jeremy Irons is a bit bland it's made up for with Hopkin's blistering performance. Nice to see Sylvia Syms, another favourite of mine, in her middle years, still beautiful and still underrated, as is this movie.