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Absolute Beginners

Play trailer Poster for Absolute Beginners PG-13 Released Apr 18, 1986 1h 47m Musical Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
70% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 38% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Colin (Eddie O'Connell), an aspiring young British photographer and jazz aficionado, falls for the beautiful Crepe Suzette (Patsy Kensit), a model on the rise. When she leaves him to pursue her dreams of fame, Colin lands under the wing of Vendice Partners (David Bowie), a suave advertising executive, and begins his own climb toward success. As Colin and Suzette get caught up in the promotion of youth culture, they brush up against the era's social issues, including racism.

Critics Reviews

View All (10) Critics Reviews
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A lively but stinker of a film that features to no avail one of David Bowie's better songs called Absolute Beginnings. Rated: C Jul 24, 2023 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy “Absolute Beginners” ranks as one of David Bowie’s greatest songs, and it’s just a shame the movie of the same name doesn’t come close to matching its glory. Rated: 2/4 May 24, 2023 Full Review Pat Padua Spectrum Culture A spectacular failure. Aug 31, 2018 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Though the film is flawed, it's still underrated as an exploration of a crucial era of London's pop culture, and the eccentric cast (including David Bowie) adds a lot of color. Rated: B Jul 29, 2007 Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Rated: 3/5 Oct 10, 2005 Full Review Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal Rated: 3/5 Nov 7, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (87) audience reviews
Donald C This is a hidden gem that didn't get nearly enough attention when it came out. Treat yourself to it, then buy the soundtrack! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/18/23 Full Review chris m Watched it to compare it to the book, which I had just read. In that context, I enjoyed it, but don't think it would've held my interest otherwise. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member I saw this in my late teens when it came out and more recently and for me it's a really good British film. It is probably of its time - the mid 80s - but I liked that time. Ok it's a bit stylised but so is the book so for me it's fair true to the source. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Does this have an original plot and strong acting from everyone concerned? No. How did Patsy Kensit come to be known as an actess? She is utterly awful. Why is Bowie on the cover? He is only in it for about 5 or ten minutes all up and has little bearing on the story line. Plus he has a terrible American accent. His only saving grace is an amazing musical number. Look it up on You Tube and save yourself some time! How did this rate higher than Labyrinth on the tomato scale? Professional critics think it's a better movie, but Labyrinth has a cult following with its audience. Is it worth seeing? No. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member (** 1/2): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img] Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member El director de video-clips Julien Temple, nos presenta un musical ubicado en la Inglaterra de finales de los 50 que se aproxima a la rebeldía juvenil de la época. Los personajes son más que superficiales y la película trata de hacer algo más que un homenaje estilizado: el resultado es irregular. A veces insoportable, a veces genial, "Absolute Beginners" es una cinta de amores y de odios. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Absolute Beginners

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Cast & Crew

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Julien Temple

Director

Eddie O'Connell

Colin, Photographer

Patsy Kensit-Healy

Suzette

David Bowie

Vendice Partners

James Fox

Henley of Mayfair, Dressmaker to the Queen

Ray Davies

Arthur, Colin's Dad

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Absolute Beginners

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Movie Info

Synopsis Colin (Eddie O'Connell), an aspiring young British photographer and jazz aficionado, falls for the beautiful Crepe Suzette (Patsy Kensit), a model on the rise. When she leaves him to pursue her dreams of fame, Colin lands under the wing of Vendice Partners (David Bowie), a suave advertising executive, and begins his own climb toward success. As Colin and Suzette get caught up in the promotion of youth culture, they brush up against the era's social issues, including racism.
Director
Julien Temple
Producer
Chris Brown, Stephen Woolley
Screenwriter
Richard Burridge, Terry Johnson, Colin MacInnes, Don MacPherson
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Home Box Office (HBO) [us]
Production Co
Goldcrest Films International
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Musical, Romance
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 18, 1986, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Apr 15, 2003
Box Office (Gross USA)
$278.9K
Runtime
1h 47m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Surround
Aspect Ratio
35mm, Scope (2.35:1)