Dance With a Stranger

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Audience Member Brilliant film, so sad. In this day and age she would not be found guilty and hanged, it would be called a crime of passion. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/25 Full Review Dave S To be honest, there's nothing inherently bad about Dance With a Stranger, but there is nothing in it that makes it rise above the level of decent but sort of forgettable. Ruth Ellis (Miranda Richardson), a promiscuous and manipulative London bar manager, falls for David (Rupert Everett), an abusive drunkard who is obsessed with Ruth. From there, things go rather poorly for both of them. On the positive side of things, Richardson is spectacular in the lead role and the movie effectively captures the atmosphere of 1950s London. However, as he has done for pretty much all of his career, director Mike Newell plays it painfully safe, never willing to take any directorial gambles to make things visually interesting. By the time the epilogue pops up on the screen, you're likely to respond with a resounding shrug. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review isla s This is an ok film. The story is a true story, about the last woman given the death sentence in Britain and I found it interesting in terms of getting a feel for the context in which the death happened. It's a bit like a long TV show I suppose but I enjoyed seeing the period details - cars of the 50s and so on. There is some good dialogue at times too, with Ruth saying some witty retorts. I thought it was interesting to see what happened when and so on. I certainly wouldn't say its a gripping or memorable watch but it's ok. I wouldn't especially recommend this film as such, no. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Joan P R A very sad and remarkably moving film, it tells the story of Ruth Ellis and David Blakely with great economy, showing what needs to be shown and not more. All performances (including Ian Holm as the third wheel) are outstanding, and the atmosphere of London in the 1950s is perfectly captured. It would be a great movie even if it were not inspired by true events. In this respect, the decision not to address Ruth's trial is very smart, because this film is about human contradictions, motivations and circumstances, the tragedy leading to the murder rather than the secondary tragedy of the cruel and barbaric execution and its aftermath. With today's eyes, what was only suggested in the 1980s is now blatantly obvious, that Ruth Ellis, for all her flaws, had been a victim of serious abuse for many years, not least by the man whom she loved and killed. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/09/21 Full Review Audience Member Enjoyed it but thought more could have been added considering she was the last woman hanged in England. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Lurid and heavy handed but richardson's performance is mesmerizing. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Dance With a Stranger

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