The Bostonians
"An intimate and exquisite probe of the feminist heart."
A bored lawyer and a suffragette vie for the attention of a faith healer's charismatic daughter.
Top Cast
-
Christopher Reeve
Basil Ransome
-
Vanessa Redgrave
Olive Chancellor
-
Jessica Tandy
Miss Birdseye
-
Madeleine Potter
Verena Tarrant
-
Nancy Marchand
Mrs. Burrage
-
Wesley Addy
Dr. Tarrant
-
Barbara Bryne
Mrs. Tarrant
-
Linda Hunt
Dr. Prance
-
Charles McCaughan
Music Hall Policeman
Overview
A bored lawyer and a suffragette vie for the attention of a faith healer's charismatic daughter.
Rating
5.6
/ 10
48 Reviews 1 Popular
1 Reviews
-
CinemaSerf6 May 23, 2024There's a lovely line in this otherwise unremarkable adaptation of the Henry James novel from Vanessa Redgrave who announces something along the lines of being eternally grateful for not having the vote! It did make me smile. That, sadly, is about all that did as we trudge through this stylish but turgid story of the embryonic American suffragette movement. Amidst this struggle for enfranchisement, the bright "Verena" (Madeleine Potter) is facing the affections of the more traditional "Basil" (Christopher Reeve), himself a man who she ought to have little time for. Might there be the slightest chance that something might develop between them? Initially, there is some sparky conversation amongst the well-heeled citizens and there is potency in some of the dialogue, but boy - after about half an hour the whole things slows to a glacial pace; is seriously over-written and even the usually charismatic Jessica Tandy ("Miss Birdseye") struggles to breath life into what ought to have been a sharp and wittily constructed dramatisation of a story about politics, empowerment and - yes, romance too. Reeve is as wooden as a washboard which doesn't help and though Potter does give it her all, the film just lacks spark, pace or oomph. As ever with Merchant Ivory films, the things looks a million dollars, but there's no excusing the weaknesses all around here and it takes for ever, too.
Trailers & Clips
Recommendations
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
The Trials of Cate McCall
6.4 2013
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Blind
6.1 2017
Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, battles through one of his career-defining cases.
Marshall
7.2 2017
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
The Man from Elysian Fields
5.9 2001
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Alex of Venice
5.9 2015
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
Time Is Up
6.5 2021
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Fire with Fire
6.2 1986
Based on true events about the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.
Suffragette
7.2 2015
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Ashes in the Snow
6.4 2018
Set in puritanical Boston in the mid 1600s, the story of seamstress Hester Prynne, who is outcast after she becomes pregnant by a respected reverend. She refuses to divulge the name of the father, is "convicted" of adultery and forced to wear a scarlet "A" until an Indian attack unites the Puritans and leads to a reevaluation of their laws and morals.
The Scarlet Letter
6.1 1995