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The Homecoming

Play trailer Poster for The Homecoming PG 1973 1h 51m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
British philosophy professor Teddy (Michael Jayston) comes back home from America the first time in nine years to visit his father, uncle and two brothers and introduce them to his wife, Ruth (Vivien Merchant). The family's working class background is vastly different from Teddy and Ruth's academic lifestyle, and the homecoming is uncomfortable for Teddy. But, unexpectedly, Ruth fits right in. While the men compete with one another, she not only enjoys herself but earns their respect.

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The Homecoming

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Pauline Kael New Yorker This movie comes across as very corny-tricky and cheaply theatrical. Sep 15, 2023 Full Review Judith Crist New York Magazine/Vulture This is a work so sparkling with insight, so soaked in the mystery that lies between the lips that move and the words that emerge, that the closer the camera brings us to its bitter heart the better. Jun 29, 2020 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times It's weird. The most improbable things happen in The Homecoming, and its characters treat each other with total contempt, and yet somehow we ARE moved. Rated: 4/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Howard Pearson Deseret News (Salt Lake City) Drama buffs should find the production excellent. The acting by Cyril Cusack, Ian Holm, Michael Jayston, Vivien Merchant, Terence Rigby and Paul Rogers is brilliant. Aug 16, 2021 Full Review Dick Lochte Los Angeles Free Press It's Pinter's words themselves that make this show. Dec 17, 2019 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Aug 27, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (20) audience reviews
Alec B Its a little shocking that Pinter's play works as a movie at all, but it is perfectly cast which is the most crucial part of staging his work. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/24 Full Review Audience Member Its a little shocking that Pinter's play works as a movie at all, but it is perfectly cast which is the most crucial part of staging his work. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Fucking kill me there's still an hour left. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Brilliant....but you wont like it. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Very well-regarded Pinter play gets turned into highly regarded film, but I just don't get it. It's not that all the characters are fairly horrible people, and it's not that the situations pass the point of realism. It's that the entire efficient nature of the plotting and the dialogue, the way that the exposition occurs, is much too programmatic. At one point, one of the characters says of his family, "You're just objects. You just...move about." That's how I felt about how Pinter wrote everyone in the play: solely as avatars for his point of view. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member A man returns home with his wife, who draws the sexual desire of the rest of the men in the household. The source material is one of the best plays I've ever seen or read. Pinter's subtext and pregnant pauses are on full display in this masterpiece. But there's something special about live theater that isn't captured in this film, despite the compelling nature of Ian Holm's pensive glares. The tension on stage isn't as palpable as it is on film, but that doesn't change the fact that watching this film is a remarkable experience. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Homecoming

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Movie Info

Synopsis British philosophy professor Teddy (Michael Jayston) comes back home from America the first time in nine years to visit his father, uncle and two brothers and introduce them to his wife, Ruth (Vivien Merchant). The family's working class background is vastly different from Teddy and Ruth's academic lifestyle, and the homecoming is uncomfortable for Teddy. But, unexpectedly, Ruth fits right in. While the men compete with one another, she not only enjoys herself but earns their respect.
Director
Peter Hall
Producer
Ely Landau
Screenwriter
Harold Pinter
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 11, 2007
Runtime
1h 51m
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