I'm always upset when I start watching a film that seems like it has the potential to be something really special and moving and by the time it's done it leaves me angry. Angry because I hate to see the good in a movie go to waste by the bad. Educating Rita is one of the best examples of this that I can think of in recent memory.
I think Educating Rita has very good intentions - it's trying to make us believe that people can change for the better if they really put their minds to it. It's a nice thought, but one that is pounded needlessly into our head for nearly two hours. I like a good triumphant story as much as the next person but it seems like the scenes never cover any different ground than the first two scenes. Much of the dialogue seems like filler - instead of letting us experience these characters each scene feels like it has an agenda to further the story to that final moment that we've been waiting for. This makes Educating Rita sometimes poignant, but often hollow. By the time the film ends, we haven't experienced much.
But credit is due where credit is due and that honor goes solely to the performances of Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Their chemistry (when the script isn't feeding them useless dialogue) is wonderful. Sadly though, this isn't enough to evoke much emotion. We only get to be with these characters for one or two scenes are different points in her education and there are so many time lapses that it rushes right by. Which is to say, that I think Educating Rita moves by much too fast! This is a film where I would have loved to spend more time with these characters. Given a better script, I would have been able to sit through another hour with these two people.
There is a marvelous scene where Julie Walters runs to Caine's class just because she wanted to tell him that she saw and loved a Shakespeare play and Caine is touched that she told him first. It's one of the few scenes that evoke any emotion and it's a moment so great that the rest of the film doesn't even come close. If only Educating Rita had more honest moments and less filler.
** out of ****
I think Educating Rita has very good intentions - it's trying to make us believe that people can change for the better if they really put their minds to it. It's a nice thought, but one that is pounded needlessly into our head for nearly two hours. I like a good triumphant story as much as the next person but it seems like the scenes never cover any different ground than the first two scenes. Much of the dialogue seems like filler - instead of letting us experience these characters each scene feels like it has an agenda to further the story to that final moment that we've been waiting for. This makes Educating Rita sometimes poignant, but often hollow. By the time the film ends, we haven't experienced much.
But credit is due where credit is due and that honor goes solely to the performances of Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Their chemistry (when the script isn't feeding them useless dialogue) is wonderful. Sadly though, this isn't enough to evoke much emotion. We only get to be with these characters for one or two scenes are different points in her education and there are so many time lapses that it rushes right by. Which is to say, that I think Educating Rita moves by much too fast! This is a film where I would have loved to spend more time with these characters. Given a better script, I would have been able to sit through another hour with these two people.
There is a marvelous scene where Julie Walters runs to Caine's class just because she wanted to tell him that she saw and loved a Shakespeare play and Caine is touched that she told him first. It's one of the few scenes that evoke any emotion and it's a moment so great that the rest of the film doesn't even come close. If only Educating Rita had more honest moments and less filler.
** out of ****