StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

darthur35 When the film started, I wasn't sure if I'd be interested. This movie is portrayed from a very personal, one on one standpoint of a cancer patient. Memories, insights, humor and fears - Emma Thompson is phenomenal in this role! Never before has a movie pulled so much emotion from me from so many levels. Bravo!

Jadeisfree I am a survivor and when this movie came out I actually though for once a movie that told an accurate view of life thru this horrible time. Boy was I wrong, what a load of crap! I am very surprised that more survivors have to posted the truth! The way her bs came out throughout this whole movie like it was poetry was a load, her overall lack of any knowledge about what people go through while this messes up their entire life was a very poor choice for her. I would have thought that she would have at least studied some patients and took note on what they went thru. Instead Mrs Thompson decided to spew crap and make it seem like deep poetic thoughts. What's load of rubbish this movie was and is, do NOTwaste your money even renting this pure fiction! I wish the academy would have given awards for the worst movies of all time so this could have won in a landslide! What a shame!!!! As a survivor to Mrs Thompson, you should be ashamed!!!!

Data1 This film is, quite simply, a masterpiece. Emma Thompson is brilliant in conveying the pain of Vivian's journey, with a beautiful eloquence that takes the musings of literary greats out of abstraction and into the realm of harsh experience. The words of John Donne feature prominently throughout this, and it's extremely moving to see Vivian come to terms with the profundities of the human condition. The loneliness of the character's situation is not consoled by her intellectual status.Emma Thompson is wonderfully comfortable in her performance, and there is a brief but memorable appearance by Harold Pinter. This is an exquisitely written film that is utterly engaging from beginning to end.

bob the moo Vivian Bearing is a professor of English literature with her career and life dedicated to the study of the poetry of John Dunn. When she is diagnosed with ovarian cancer she enters a full cycle of treatment that leaves her hairless, sick and weak. As she lies in her room or is shuffled from one set of tests to the next set of treatments she reflects on where she finds herself and how she has approached her life thus far.My plot summary does this a great injustice because it makes it sound like a daytime tvm where we gets lots of emotional flashbacks and lots of lessons learnt and weepy scenes. Nothing could be further from the truth with this film although it does do an element of these. Instead of being manipulative and corny though the film is endlessly poignant, convincing and touching. The style is quite similar to Alan Bennett's Talking Heads, with Vivian being quite matter-of-fact in her to-camera scenes but ultimately betraying emotion and hurt underneath. This approach is well mixed with more traditional scenes and it worked really well for me. I liked the way that Nichols drew the flashback scenes into the monologue scenes and then into the wider scenes with other characters, it worked very well for me and made the film flow in a rather beautiful fashion.Of course the strength of the film is in how utterly moving it is and how it achieves this without ever resorting to cheese or easy sentiment. This is represented in human form by Emma Thompson who gives a performance that is beyond criticism as it is without a flaw. She is utterly convincing and her performance had me smiling as often as crying – it is powerful stuff and I'll say no more because I think to say more would risk somehow lessening it. In support it is hard to say how the others do because of how dominant Thompson is but in fairness the fact that they do hold their own is a credit to them. Lloyd has a cameo more or less but is effective and works well in his character. Woodward is an interesting turn while McDonald does a great job with a character that could easily have been basic and corny.A great film then and ironically so, since it sat on my recorder for over a month before I tried it. It is not a difficult watch but it is very moving and is delivered in a great style that mixes Talking Heads with human drama. The script is brilliant and the delivery from Nichols makes it flow seamlessly while Thompson sits at the heart – convincing, touching and excellent throughout.