Screenwriter Jhabvala grabs us by the collar with a cloak-and-dagger prologue that ratchets up the stakes throughout the genteel dance of adultery and denial that follows.

| May 3, 2022

'Golden Bowl' Cracked: Merchant/Ivory's Misstep with Henry James

| Aug 8, 2017

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Despite a denouement which arrives half an hour too late, the complexities of James' work are superbly realised.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 8, 2003

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 10, 2003

| Original Score: D+ | Jan 10, 2003

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 8, 2002

The Golden Bowl may not be the most exciting movie you'll ever see, but those who pay attention should find themselves pleasantly rewarded.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 14, 2002

Decent screenplay, superb acting, fantastic set design and photography: so why doesn't this movie feel great? Mainly it's just that the metaphors deployed are fairly obvious and the slow, played-out peacocks' dance of romantic discovery and recrimination

| Original Score: C | Oct 21, 2002

The bowl practically screams, "Look at me! I'm a metaphor!"

| Original Score: C | Jan 17, 2002

This roundelay of relationships makes up the heart of the film and allows each of the four principals to offer sterling performances.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Dec 21, 2001

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 20, 2001

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 27, 2001

This kind of highly skilled verbal combat is reserved almost exclusively for Merchant-Ivory films, it seems.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 30, 2001

It's an interesting film with lots of wonderful moments, but in the end, it's just like all the rest.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 28, 2001

One of James's juiciest scenarios, but barely anybody involved in this enterprise seems to have caught its groove.

Full Review | Sep 4, 2001

This solemn misfire is rendered with very little passion and emotion.

| Jul 13, 2001

After two hours of stilted dialogue (delivered by usually reliable performers who here seem totally at sea) and lush photography, your average viewer will have been massaged into a near-comatose state.

Full Review | Jun 29, 2001

The filmmakers are too wrapped up in politeness and refuse to hold the characters responsible for their despicable actions, turning them all into victims of circumstance instead.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 21, 2001

Director James Ivory and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, partners for four decades with producer Ismail Merchant, don't bring much fresh air into this claustrophobic story.

Full Review | Jun 15, 2001