Ethan Frome

PG

Released Mar 12, 1993

1h 39m

Drama

List

54%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

39%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A farmer (Liam Neeson) with an invalid wife (Joan Allen) falls in love with her cousin (Patricia Arquette) in snowy Vermont.

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Steve D

Terrible melodrama with good acting.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I absolutely loved this movie. Liam and Patricia were brilliant. So underated!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I haven't read the book so I'm surveying this lesser-known romantic historical drama from the 90's. The first act does establish things quite well and it meddles with the moral dilemma about a very socially unacceptable love triangle in a rural East coast village amidst winter. Neeson perplexingly turns in somewhat of a one-note performance and I just don't think the screenplay reached the right filmmakers and studio.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

THE ACTING WAS BALLER. I LOVED THE ACTORS. THEY NEED TO MAKE A SEQUEL.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

James H

For the most part, this film is an excellent adaptation from the novel by Edith Warton, the same author that brought us "The Age of Innocence". For high school Language Arts teachers, this film is a must. Yet history teachers who wish to help students paint a picture of what rural New England might have felt like in the 19th century will also find this adaptation beneficial. Certain scenes depict not only the nuanced acting of the love triangle of characters Frome (Liam Neeson), distance cousin and later wife Zeena (Joan Allen), and Zeena's distant relative Mattie Silver (Patricia Arquette) but the social-economic realities that impact their lives. If not for the nuanced direction of realisateur John Madden (later known for "Shakespeare in Love") the movie would suffer for scene editing that does not prove consistent throughout. Whether we can blame Wharton's original narration for drawing out indulgent character scenes at sacrifice to plot or the film's producers (Miramax) for not cutting down their script before heading to production, they are both to blame. For example, after Mattie recovers from her ailments and becomes the rose of the town (note the change in clothing), there seems to be an eon between the night of the dance and Ethan's and Mattie's engaged motions towards each other. I suppose the producers were looking for 'reality' but movies goers, even the most hoity-toity, sit down in a theatre and are expected to escape into another time and place-- that is, movies need to move. The climactic scene on the toboggan could have been better foreshadowed since it came out more pathetic than tragic. If it can be imagined that the audience have witnessed the death of a child sometime in the expositional time of the story, it would have brought more emotional weight to that scene. Again, a must for English or History teachers. It is also for mature adults who wish to see the consequences of forbidden love where morality is the only counter balance in a bleak, rustic, loveless wilderness.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/03/17

Full Review

ashley h

Ethan Frome is an excellent film. It is about a new pastor arrives in a stark Vermont village and is intrigued by crippled, misshapen Ethan Frome. Liam Neeson and Tate Donovan give amazing performances. The screenplay is well written. John Madden did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama and romance. Ethan Frome is a must see.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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John Madden

Director

Liam Neeson

Ethan Frome

Patricia Arquette

Mattie Silver

Joan Allen

Zenobia "Zeena" Frome

Tate Donovan

Reverend Smith

Katharine Houghton

Mrs. Hale

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Peter Stack

San Francisco Chronicle

It's impossible to improve on Edith Wharton's great short novel of thwarted love, but this adaptation directed by John Madden is sensitive to the story's bleak, wintry beauty.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 11, 2023

Full Review

Jackie Potts

Miami Herald

Based on Wharton's chilling, Gothic novel of 1911, Ethan Frome is a claustrophobic tale of thwarted love that never quite stirs your compassion.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 17, 2021

Full Review

David Ansen

Newsweek

No matter how well you know this tale, it still packs a wallop.

Mar 31, 2008

Full Review

Malcolm Johnson

Hartford Courant

Despite the powers of the cast, especially the powerful Ethan and the intense Allen, the drama proves thin and slow as your proverbial molasses in January.

May 23, 2018

Full Review

Michael Szymanski

International Press Academy

Rated: 3/5

Sep 21, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 6, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

A farmer (Liam Neeson) with an invalid wife (Joan Allen) falls in love with her cousin (Patricia Arquette) in snowy Vermont.

Director: John Madden
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 12, 1993, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 5, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $161.4K
Runtime: 1h 39m
Sound Mix: Surround

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