A love letter to the duo, with Jim Broadbent in fine form as the priggish workaholic Gilbert and Allan Corduner a droll counterpoint as the easygoing and hedonistic Sullivan.

| Sep 20, 2022

The notion of art as an organically evolving process is crucial to Leigh. Almost alone among directors, he creates his scripts in the rehearsal period through improvisations.

| Mar 6, 2018

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 18, 2008

[A] beautifully crafted and lively romp around the 1880s stage world.

| Jun 17, 2008

Leigh's cast are beyond compare, and the whole bighearted, splendidly droll celebration of the entertainer's lot surely stands among British cinema's one-of-a-kind treasures.

| Feb 9, 2006

If you are a Gilbert and Sullivan buff, you will be in heaven. If you are not, the first thing you will need to know is that the film is nearly three hours long.

Full Review | Jul 21, 2005

The film is a delight and a surprise, all the more so since Leigh is associated with gritty working-class stories.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jun 18, 2002

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 18, 2002

Not your normal period piece, to be sure.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 22, 2002

It's this attention to the anxious underbelly of Victorian culture that does most to save Topsy-Turvy from descending into pictorialism.

| Apr 17, 2001

A hive of broad, brilliant performances.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

Despite its draining length, it proves to be even better and richer on a second viewing.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

The year's least likely, most infectious tour de force.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

It's a masterpiece. And the tunes are pretty good, too.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 1, 2000

It's the booming-voiced Broadbent who anchors a potentially diffuse film.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

One of those films that create a mix of erudition, pageantry and delectable acting opportunities, much as Shakespeare in Love did last year.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 1, 2000

The performances cut deeper than usual for costume films, and the actors once again seem to literally become who they're playing.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 1, 2000

Mike Leigh's great big, superbly performed homage to the creative process.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 1, 2000

You're likely to be moved to tears.

| Original Score: A | Jan 1, 2000

A loving and lovely ode to the hoary theatrics of those reigning kings of Victorian tomfoolery, W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 1, 2000