Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Justin Easton There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

valleyjohn This a strange one. Adapted from a Stephen Fry novel this film is a hard one to pigeon hole. It starts off as a comedy with some Malcolm Tucker ( The thick of it ) like scenes played brilliantly by Roger Allam it then turns into a stately home farce and ends up being like a detective mystery story. Its the story of a drunken poet and theatre critic who loses his job and then agrees to investigate goings on at Swafford Manor where so called miracles are being performed. I enjoyed the performances in this especially from Roger Allam but the film itself left me a little cold probably because I couldn't really relate to the people in it plus it was a little too high brow for my liking. As soon a poetry is mentioned , which it is several times , I tend to glaze over and lose interest. If you are into the old Agatha Christie movies I can see how this might appeal but it wasn't for me.

Rick James This trifle fails to convince. The story is contrived and the deus ex machina is not appealing. Throw in a bit of raunchy teen-cream excitement to attract voyeurs, and there you go. The performances are good, although each character is stock. If you're on a plane this is worth seeing but don't pay for it.

Pedant-skewer I read the reviews but have so far only watched the beginning of the film. I have to agree with cosmix 10 that Fry is marmite to the palate: you either love his or hate him. Sadly I fall into the latter category and cannot abide the man's work and probably wouldn't like him either if we ever met..That said, cosmix 10 needs to learn better use of English. It is: "Might as well have been", or "Might as will've been" but not "Might as well of been". Similarly: "probably could have worked", or "probably could've worked" but definitely not "probably could of worked".I point out these things not just because I am a pedant, (which of course I am)but for your own good. Fry will read your review and laugh at you as an uneducated numbskull. If you want to really upset him, then write grammar as good or better than his own.As for the Hippopotamus? Given that the homoerotic bath scene at the beginning, was followed almost immediately by the homoerotic stage play immediately afterwards, this somehow tells me it is probably not a film for me. (PS to Fry: The reference to the 1980 stage play "The Romans in Britain", with its famous homosexual rape scene that provoked a law suit from Mary Whitehouse, was not lost. However, you may be surprised to hear it, but most people in Britain and America are not gay. Hence your film bombed even if you thought such references were clever. Pleas learn from your mistakes).

sirakusai Unfortunately, the movie is a far cry from the novel it is based on. The novel itself is pure genius. That said, The Hippopotamus is still an entertaining movie. Witty British humor combined with a clever plot, amusing characters top with a superb performance by the leading actor Roger Allam. I highly recommend this movie, but do yourself a favor and read the book, or better yet, listen to the Audiobook narrated by Stephan Fry himself - pure enjoyment. If your intellect is a little above an average movie that does not make a sense if you can understand humor and not just silly jokes, then you'll enjoy this movie.