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Ethan Frome

Play trailer Poster for Ethan Frome PG 1993 1h 39m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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50% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
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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Ethan Frome

Critics Reviews

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Peter Stack San Francisco Chronicle 01/11/2023
3/4
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. Go to Full Review David Ansen Newsweek 03/31/2008
No matter how well you know this tale, it still packs a wallop. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
1.5/4
This is the kind of movie they used to show us in high school English class, where it gave literature a bad name. Go to Full Review Jackie Potts Miami Herald 08/17/2021
2/4
Based on Wharton's chilling, Gothic novel of 1911, Ethan Frome is a claustrophobic tale of thwarted love that never quite stirs your compassion. Go to Full Review Malcolm Johnson Hartford Courant 05/23/2018
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. Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/06/2005
2/5
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Audience Reviews

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Richard S 4d The breaking of a heart can take so long… I watched Ethan Frome (1993, rated PG, 99 minutes), then I read the book, then I watched the movie again, it's easier than reading the book again, but I'm going to do that too. Knowing the ending doesn't reduce the dreadful intensity of this story that gets ever more sad from beginning to end. The tainted love story in a quaint Massachusetts town breaks through the arid shell of real life—Ethan (Liam Neeson) wants more, Mattie (Patricia Arquette) wants more… Every other character seems to be all too righteously satisfied with less. The town folk see a pitiless moral lesson in Ethan’s damaged life and the love he must keep stuffed inside him. I see a man and a woman who share forbidden love, but don't know what to do about it, and sadly fail to snuff it out. See more Emily B 07/25/2024 I had to read the book for class last year and I watched it after I didn't do so well on a test and thought the movie would help with the test. The book was sort of boring and lagging and I didn't expect too much when I was going to watch this. As it turned out it was actually really quite good! I really liked it much better than the book. Letter Grade: A+ See more Steve D 02/21/2023 Terrible melodrama with good acting. See more 06/08/2022 I absolutely loved this movie. Liam and Patricia were brilliant. So underated!!! See more 05/27/2022 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. See more 10/23/2019 THE ACTING WAS BALLER. I LOVED THE ACTORS. THEY NEED TO MAKE A SEQUEL. See more Read all reviews
Ethan Frome

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Cast & Crew

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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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Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome (1993) Ethan Frome (1993) View more photos

Movie Info

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
Producer
Stan Wlodkowski
Screenwriter
Richard Nelson
Production Co
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
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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