Bright Young Things

Bright Young Things 2003

• Director: Stephen Fry
• Based on the book by Evelyn Waugh
• Cast: Stephen Campbell Moore, Emily Mortimer, Michael Sheen, James McAvoy, Fenella Woolgar, Stockard Channing, Julia Mackenzie, David Tennant, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Imelda Staunton, Peter O’Toole, Harriet Walter and many others in small roles
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Stephen Campbell Moore - The Lady in the Van, Johnny English Reborn, Amazing Grace, Hustle
• Emily Mortimer – The Bookshop, Hugo, Shutter Island, Lars and the Real Girl, Paris je t’aime, Dear Frankie, Young Adam, The Kid, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Notting Hill
• Michael Sheen – Underworld 1-3, Passengers, Far from the Madding Crowd, Doctor Who, Frost/Nixon, Blood Diamond, The Queen, Kingdom of Heaven, Wilde, Mary Reilly, Underworld
• James McAvoy – X-Men etc, Victor Frankenstein, Filth, The Last Station, Wanted, Atonement, Becoming Jane, Starter for Ten, The Last King of Scotland, Macbeth Re-Told, Inside I’m Dancing
• Fenella Woolgar – Victoria & Abdul, High-Rise, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, Case Histories, Doctor Who, Wah Wah, Vera Drake
• Stockard Channing – Sparkle, Out of Practice, Practical Magic, First Wives’ Club, Edie and Pen, Smoke Six Degrees of Separation, Grease
• Julia Mackenzie – Cranford, Notes on a Scandal, Shirley Valentine
• David Tennant – Jessica Jones, Broadchurch, What We Did on Our Holiday, Doctor Who, The Escape Artist, The Politician’s Husband, Fright Night, The Decoy Bride, United, Hamlet, Kick-Ass Girl’s St Trinian’s, The Catherine Tate Show, Glorious 39, The Secret Smile, Harry Potter and the Flaming Goblet, Blackpool, Jude, Takin’ over the Asylum
• Jim Broadbent – Lady in the Van, Filth, Cloud Atlas, Harry Potter, Another Year, Young Victoria, Hot Fuzz, Moulin Rouge, Topsy-Turvy, Little Voice, Richard III, Life Is Sweet, and many more
• Simon Callow – Victoria & Abdul, Doctor Who, Shakespeare in Love, David Copperfield, etc
• Imelda Staunton – Pride, Harry Potter, Another Year, Cranford, Taking Woodstock, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Re-Told, Vera Drake, Shakespeare in Love, Twelfth Night, Sense and Sensibility, Much Ado About Nothing, Peter’ Friends
• Peter O’Toole – Stardust, The Man from La Mancha, The Lion in Winter, Lord Jim, Lawrence of Arabia
• Harriet Walter – Star Wars, London Spy, Simon Schama’s Shakespeare, Downton Abbey, From Time to Time, Young Victoria, Sense and Sensibility, Atonement, Keep the Aspidistras Flying
•  Why? Good cast. Good film.
• Seen: Once before. Now 19 July 2020      

       Adam (Campbell Moore) has written a book called Bright Young Things revealing the scandalous life of the young idle rich English nobility of the late 30’s. The manuscript is confiscated by customs as he returns to England from abroad.

       It goes at such a pace that it’s hard to keep up, just like their lives. It’s all quite frivolous and amusing as only British nobility comedies can be. There is a Jeeves-and-Wooster feel about it. Not surprising with Stephen Fry as the screenplay writer and director.

       The cast includes many of the British elite, and others) with many highlights:

       Michael Sheen, last seen as a macho werewolf, as decadently, limp-wristedly, smiling-through-tears gay.

       James McAvoy as a young nobleman desperate to be a journalist who, when he fails to get the scoop he’s after, gets revenge by printing a load of lies for the newspaper, which sells more copies than ever.

       Stockard Channing as a purple clad evangelist preaching about sin at one of the many sin-filled parties.

       David Tennant as a suave aristocrat, unsavoury as only non-Doctor Who Tennant can be.

       Imelda Staunton is almost as indignant as Dolores Umbridge, although not so pink.

       Their glamourous lives go faster and faster. It can’t end well. Can it?

4 1/2 * of 5

Shakespeare connection: This is so filled with Shakespeare connections it’s almost like watching a Shakespeare play. The ones I’ve seen in something Shakespeare are: Emily Mortimer, James McAvoy, David Tenant, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Imelda Staunton, Harriet Walter

PS I see that I have already reviewed this film once. It seems I liked it better this time.