ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Estelle Edwards
I've never read the novel this movie is based on either, but the movie made its impression on me from its debut. A BBC production that was released on the A&E channel, 'The Green Man' takes the old haunted house story and throws in a main character fighting his own personal demons, a little pseudo-lesbianism, plus an interesting mix of minor characters. Great scene where the other-wordly being pays a visit to Maurice to give him advice on dealing with Dr. Thomas Underhill! I can't decide whether the being was an angel, fallen or otherwise, or simply a messenger. We're all kept guessing as to that one! If anybody knows ghosts, it's the British. Not that we don't have our share, but there is something special about the United Kingdom. It remains a place of enchantment: the history of the Celts, Druids, and the Arthurian legends.Incidentally, even though I wasn't the one to donate it, Riverhead Free Library has this excellent video in its catalog!
mountainsal
We love, Love, LOVE The GREENMAN and would love to have it in our inventory. We've searched high and low and can't find a copy - anyone out there know how/where we can locate one? Yep, we've tried Amazon, etc. to no avail. This is the perfect Halloween movie and we're fast approaching another witching season and would love to see it again. It's a classic "adult" ghost story worth seeing. The mood is dark yet entertaining and the performances of the entire cast are riveting and spell binding. Albert Finney outdoes himself as the owner of an Inn (The Greenman) whose past is filled with secrets, mystery and the unknown. If you like The Fog and the suspicious nature of what's going to happen next, you'll enjoy The Greenman, year after year.
antonia zehler
I love anything Albert Finney does. A friend loaned Green Man to me because I had lent him A Man of No Importance. He said if I liked Albert Finney, I had to see this one. It was kind of like a bad acid trip mixed with marginal porn, a ghost story and a dollop of gore thrown in for good measure, but despite the dreadful special effects and the silly, disjointed plot, I enjoyed it. I got a kick out of the priest and Josie Lawrence too. Worth seeing just for it's strangeness, and Albert, of course...The religious stuff felt confusing at times. There are some fun bits, the wife and mistress running off together made me laugh. The father was charming. The scenery was gorgeous, and the idea of a haunted inn in Cambridge was just too good to pass up.
kintopf432
Well-acted but ultimately dull adaptation of Kingsley Amis's novel. The film works best when it takes up Amis's amused bafflement at modernity--Nickolas Grace is particularly funny as an agnostic vicar--but all in all the film's not sure what kind of tone it's shooting for, and as a result it's not too scary, not too funny, not too anything else. One thing that might have helped is more of an attempt to create suspense about whether anything paranormal is going on. Finney's fine acting aside, we never really see Maurice as the other characters see him, and we don't for a second think that he's just having drunken hallucinations. This makes all the busywork surrounding his proving to himself that the ghosts are in fact real a bit tedious. In fact, the movie's overlong as a whole, and it's worth mentioning that the whole 'swinging' subplot doesn't really jibe with the updated period. (The book was published in 1969.) But it's got a real English-TV feel about it, which is always pleasant, and that may be enough for some. 5.5 out of 10.
