trpdean What a strange title to give a film about some of the ugliest characters you'll ever come across. This film could have been put out by those who felt for centuries that "theater folk" are people to stay FAR away from - their nasty name-calling, their preying on the young, their perversions, their plain meanness - can't be rubbed away as easily as the darkness drawn by any numbered make-up. Whew, what an ugly UGLY group of people. I shivered. You'll want a bath after this one. The acting, sets, costumes were first rate - particularly Nicola Pagett, Hugh Grant, Alun Armstrong, Peter Firth, and the girl playing the lead (whose name now escapes me). It was wonderful to see Pagett in a film again (she was superb not only in Upstairs Downstairs but as the greatest Anna Karenina yet seen in the 10 hour series). I was also pleased to see Rita Tushingham in too small a part as the aunt. If you like watching bullies gather together in playgrounds to attack, kick, and tear apart the clothes, confidence, limbs and self-esteem of the smallest and youngest, you may however find this appealing. For me, this is one of the darkest and most depressing films I've ever seen.

act123 "An Awfully Big Adventure" must imply that the cover has been misdirected to the "comedy" aisle. It's *not* a comedy!!!! It's only a rather unpleasant movie, overall. The casting's good. There's Alan Rickman (oh that voice); Hugh Grant at his slimiest (the only characters he's decent at doing), and lo and behold! Could it be? Gasp! Edward Petherbridge! (who played Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1980s). And you have a very pretty little poppet played by a lovely redheaded girl, who does a fine acting job. It's not the acting that's awful. It's the script and directing, which is an awfully big TRAVESTY. WHAT were you people thinking?Directing. Good lord. You have Alan Rickman sporting woolly jumpers, framed in a lot of Tom Cruise Hair Shots astride a motorbike. He's supposed to be the hardened and pained jilted lover, who happens to also be a great Captain Hook. The only reasoning behind the whole Captain Hook presence is that Alan Rickman's voice scares the bejeezus out of everyone. Otherwise, what's the point? You are supposed to have some pity for poor Stella, who is completely blind to the fact that Hugh Grant's character is obviously as fey as Freddie Mercury AND he's a heartless jerk, to boot. And Edward Petherbridge in his least-interesting role EVER, as he apparently earns his paycheque from this movie prancing around in a toga talking to himself, and then breaking his leg and screaming "YOU BLOODY WOMAN!" Oh the melodrama. The main characters are good, and Peter Firth's done a nice job being the jilted lover of Hugh Grant. But WHY was the alcoholic starlet even there? She served no purpose whatsoever except to give Edward Petherbridge a reason to prance around in a toga talking to himself, and to insert the obligatory "I'm an alcoholic so I'm going to throw tantrums...and blunt objects" scene to spice things up a bit.The story itself is a bit of a shocker, but i was prepared for that. I barely batted an eye with the Lolita scenes and gay undertones. Blah, blah, blah. No, I think the most horrifying scene of all in this movie was seeing Edward Petherbridge WEARING MAX FACTOR. That, my friends, is an image that will stay with me the rest of my lucid days.So it all comes down to this: perhaps THESE are the reasons why "An Awfully Big Adventure" was marketed as a LIGHTHEARTED COMEDY! The script is 'awfully' dreadful, and it's rather like watching an inverted Oedipus Rex. Lighthearted comedy? Well, let me put it this way, darlings: "An Awfully Big Adventure" is as hilarious as "Dancer In the Dark" is a screwball romance.Either Miramax's video-release people either have a brilliant sense of ironic humour, or they 'awfully' dig Sophocles in that silly way. Also ironic that "Liverpool" looks suspiciously like Dublin. Hmmm. Anyway, this movie REAKED!

Vampyr_Girl I liked the film and, though I'm sure there were countless other ways that they could've still retained its twisted plot in a more concise way, I enjoyed the uniqueness of its story. It was certainly a sad story and it did catch me by surprise. Alan Rickman was terrific, but I wish I could've seen more of his character because for the amount of time he's in the film it simply wasn't enough, especially since he appeared to be a main character. However, it was entertaining and I really liked it and its originality.

Malette The real hub around which this movie moves is not Hugh Grant or Alan Rickman but Georgina Cates as Stella, an unpaid sixteen year old student who is not only stagestruck but enamored of Meredith Potter (Hugh Grant), the cruel and thoughtless director who is more interested in boys.Stella, ignorant of most of life, is unaware of his predilictions and so ill-informed she is afraid she might have a venereal disease from touching a man with her hand. Having been abandoned by her mother (who is the voice on the phone giving the time), she is being raised by her aunt and uncle, well-meaning people who love her but have no idea of what to do with her or tell her. Eventually she is seduced by P.L. O'Hara (Alan Rickman), who has come to Liverpool to play Captain Hook but also to once again look for the woman who bore him a child many years before. He imagines he has a son and that belief allows him to continue, despite his lack of self worth.He eventually succumbs to his own predilictions when he pursues Stella. She, having no idea of sex other than as something to be done to her, is a slow learner but eventually says that like "learning a ukelele, it takes practice." The Grant character is so thoroughly despicable it proves once and for all that Hugh Grant can, in fact, act. Rickman gives a well done, mostly underplayed performance, not even having a line in the first four scenes he is in. Georgina Cates is the real jewel here, with a combination of naivete and boldness, along with a girlish charm which makes Stella believable as well as pathetic. Not the greatest movie made but a well done, well cast piece of work by professionals with a sense of purpose. See it! But not for the children.