Out of Africa

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Balakrishnan M The cinematography, the score by the legendary John Barry and brilliant performances from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford make this film a memorable one. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/17/25 Full Review Matthew D A melodramatic romance set within stunning African vistas. Out of Africa (1985) is Sydney Pollack's epic romance film. Pollack's beautiful direction keeps you engaged in each individual scene alongside the remarkable cinematography. Some of the wide shots looked a little out of focus and Pollack oddly chose a few green screen shots instead of the gorgeous African landscape in all its natural beauty. The plane sequence is particularly lovely to look at set to John Barry's dreamy score. Out of Africa is far too slowly paced for a movie of this tremendous length. It's a nice romance film despite the daunting length. Pollack could easily have cut this feature down with some clever editing. The romance is the key to Out of Africa. Meryl Streep is the star here as Karen Blixen. Her Danish accent is perfect and quite convincing. I forgot, as I watched Out of Africa, that she is not Danish by birth. It's really impressive. Her dramatic acting is of a higher caliber than the rest of the film's melodrama. She realistically portrays an unhappy wife and a longing divorcee. Similarly, Robert Redford starts out as charming as Denys Finch Hatton, then leads into a man unsatisfied with routine and leaves later on. As impressed as I am by Redford's captivating performance, I wish he was in the first half more, as he is hardly present until the second half of Out of Africa, then suddenly he's always there, then he leaves. It's an uneven balance as you wish Redford had a bigger role. Streep carries Out of Africa. As I stated, you believe in the romance of Out of Africa. The pretty setting, atmospheric music, biting dialogue, and grounded romance keeps you intrigued. Unfortunately, Out of Africa is merely a romance. The drama struggles of Streep's character living alone feel secondary at best. The racial and gender struggles of Africa in this period film feel background issues at most. Out of Africa is a massive undertaking with little to say about the larger cultural issues brought up throughout Out of Africa. Next, the supporting roles in Out of Africa vary in greatness. Klaus Maria Brandauer is interesting as the philandering and negligent husband Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke. He definitely is underutilized as he actually disappears halfway into Out of Africa. Malick Bowens is excellent as Faran. His friendship and kindness to Streep's leading lady feel the most real relationship in Out of Africa in the end. Bowens plays it with a subtle knowledge and understanding as the servant and translator. Lastly, Suzanna Hamilton is charming as Felicity, though faintly remarkable due to the fact that she also disappears until towards the end of Out of Africa. In all, Out of Africa uses Streep and Redford well while they are on screen together, but the unbalanced structure leaves you bored in many parts. Pollack's direction feels languid instead of innovative. The natural African backdrop is always inviting, but the clear animal cruelty is distracting. I like the romance, but I'll leave the melodrama in Out of Africa. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/16/25 Full Review Jeff N. Beautiful cinema and score. Beautiful! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/31/25 Full Review K K Merryl Steep gives a tour de force performance as she plays the Baroness as one could only imagine so well. The story rolls on and misses a couple of major historical moments key in the lives of the main characters. The lack of these is clearly masked by the sweeping landscapes and art direction. Touching moments and memorable persons push the viewer to wanting more.. Enough time has past since this beautiful movie. A 3 part mini series re-make should do the trick! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/28/25 Full Review Stephen C 2 hours and 40 minutes is not too long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $83,100,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dubbed and subtitled in worldwide studios!!!! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/16/25 Full Review Leprechaun K Beautifully shot with a wonderful score by John Barry. Movie plays a bit long and first hour and a half is a struggle to stay invested. Film location and supporting casts adds authenticity to the memoir based feature. Overall enjoyable but could have been trimmed to a more befitting runtime. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/13/25 Full Review Read all reviews

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