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Madame Bovary

2000 2h 40m Drama List
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Young and amiable country doctor Charles Bovary (Hugh Bonneville) takes a wife, Emma (Frances O'Connor), after a pleasant courtship. However, Emma's lofty expectations of marriage, and later motherhood, are soon dissolved and replaced by a sense of oppression and mediocrity. Emma takes to overspending and committing adultery to add spice to her life, engaging in affairs with a wealthy man (Greg Wise) and a lawyer (Hugh Dancy) -- steps which may ultimately lead her husband to ruin.

Critics Reviews

View All (2) Critics Reviews
Nancy Banks-Smith Guardian It is a pretty production, though sunk at first in buried-alive shadows. Feb 25, 2020 Full Review Walter Goodman New York Times Tomorrow night's sharply drawn adaptation of Flaubert's 1857 novel by Heidi Thomas captures the predicament of the young wife... Nov 30, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (8) audience reviews
Audience Member I could never get through the book and I fell asleep in the movie. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Okay listen, I LOVE costume drama's but movies like this just ruin it for me... thought I got a great deal when I bought it for like 3 bucks.. yegh. A miserable woman who thinks having affairs with every semi-handsome man that comes a long will help her be happy and live the life she reads in trashy novels. And her poor husband, a simple doctor is destroyed in the process... by the way, when you take pure arsenic poison, you'll be dead a whole lot quicker, without the pain subsiding long enough to say goodbye to your daughter, who you apparently hadn't noticed you had up until that point... okay I'm a little harsh, but that's what they get for putting in way to pornographic scenes!... pg13? not! Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member a decent film but felt that frances o'connor wasnt the best to play the role. like her in mansfield park better; sad story which happens all the time even nowadays Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Really good film! I spent 2 and a half hours without noticing the time. The portrayal of Madam Bovary's character was great. Sometimes it was too hard for me to decide whether to pity or to hate her. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member There are quite a few film makes of Flaubert's depressing masterpiece, but I started with this one. Doesn't quite cover the book, but Frances O'Connor was very believable, and Hugh Bonneville was almost too lovable. I wanted to smack her character so many times through the film, so suffice to say... it was pretty engaging. Go watch. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member The only redeming feature is Hugh Dancy... he greatly improves the scenes, by a long way!! Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Madame Bovary

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Young and amiable country doctor Charles Bovary (Hugh Bonneville) takes a wife, Emma (Frances O'Connor), after a pleasant courtship. However, Emma's lofty expectations of marriage, and later motherhood, are soon dissolved and replaced by a sense of oppression and mediocrity. Emma takes to overspending and committing adultery to add spice to her life, engaging in affairs with a wealthy man (Greg Wise) and a lawyer (Hugh Dancy) -- steps which may ultimately lead her husband to ruin.
Director
Tim Fywell
Producer
Bernard Krichefski, Tony Redston
Screenwriter
Heidi Thomas
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Jul 3, 2012
Runtime
2h 40m