Stiff Upper Lips (1999)

A lot of fun.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

You really must be familiar with the movies from the earlier mania for British period dramas like "The Jewel in the Crown" to appreciate this spoof, and that may no longer apply to a lot of people.With hindsight, it has only aged OK, since many of the jokes come across as lame or stale now, although there is still some pretty funny stuff in it. I'm certain that I would have rated it higher if I'd watched it at the height of all things Merchant Ivory ("A Room with a View", etc.). Overall, it's still halfway decent British comedy, which makes it better than most comedy anyway. The best attitude about this film seems to be take what you can, since it certainly does have enough humorous lines and scenes to redeem itself.

Emily (Georgina Cates), a lovely young British blueblood, lives with her stuffy Aunt Agnes (Prunella Scales) in a beautiful mansion. Her brother, Edward (Samuel West) is bringing home a college friend, Cedric (Robert Portal) in hopes that he may be a good match for Emily. However, although Cedric can quote Homer and dresses meticulously, he is a snob who criticizes nearly everything, including the cucumber sandwiches Aunt Agnes serves for lunch. That, of course, may be the fault of Agnes butler, Hudson, for he is the only servant-cook-bottlewasher in the whole house, and he is too busy to worry about whether the cucumbers are sliced thinly enough. In any case, Emily doesn't really warm up to Cedric but does become quite heated when George (Sean Pertwee), the local poor boy, rescues her from a near-drowning. Emily gets a bad cold from her ordeal and Aunt Agnes decides to take everyone to sunny Italy, including George in the capacity of a servant. Nothing could please Hudson more, as he will have the time to actually sit down and rest. But, will Emily and George be able to hide their budding attraction in such a romantic venue? And, does Cedric have his eye on someone, too? This film is great fun, especially for those, like myself, who adore Merchant & Ivory, David Lean, and others. It sends up such films as A Room with a View, Chariots of Fire, and A Passage to India in a most amusing way. For example, Edward manages to trip the runners at Cambridge, who are attempting to beat the clock in a race around the school's courtyard, while Emily needs a horse, pulling a rope, to get her into her corset. Fun, fun, fun. The cast is truly great, with Peter Ustinov adding to the amusement as a tea plantation owner. West, as some may know, played the unfortunate clerk in Howard's End and it is wonderful to see him getting a chance to smile, for a change. Cates is lovely, Scales a stitch, and Portal's imitation of Daniel Day-Lewis's character in Room with a View is priceless. The scenery is also gorgeous, the costumes very fine, and the production values quite high. All in all, even if you have never seen a Merchant-Ivory or David Lean film, you will still find this an entertaining film. But, if you are a true fan of distinguished British cinema, you will vastly enjoy the opportunity to laugh at this worthy parody.

Based on the title of this movie, I expected it to be a droll British comedy. Instead it was a laugh out-loud spoof of such films as A Room With A View, A Passage To India, Sense And Sensibility and others in that vein. I must admit that once I caught onto the joke it didn't seem quite as funny as it was at the beginning, but it was still one of the most amusing films I've seen in quite awhile.If you like British period movies and British humor, I highly recommend this one.

This film kept me laughing all the way. Prunella Scales alone cracked me up totally! The Bonham-Carter parody was indeed weak. That was a pity, since she is the crown princess of Merchant-Ivory Land. Samuel West was brilliant at mocking the characters he DIDN'T play in the real Merchant-Ivory pieces. His fan scene with friend was fabulous. Ustinov didn't try very hard, as usual in his later career. But, as a Merchant-Ivory junky, I have to say that I was delighted at the opportunity to laugh at myself for being such a sucker for their formula. If you watch this film, you must be prepared to lighten up, or else it will be wasted on you.