The Hippopotamus

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The Hippopotamus

Released Jun 15, 2017

1h 29m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

57%

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14 Reviews

48%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Poet Ted Wallace is summoned to his friend's country manor to investigate a series of unexplained miracles.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

This adaptation of Stephen Fry's novel leans heavily on the elegant profanity of the source material.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 4, 2017

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

A towering, at times monumentally good central performance from the character actor Roger Allam stands at the heart of The Hippopotamus, but it is entirely alone.

Rated: 2/5

Jun 2, 2017

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David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

Despite a wonderfully witty voiceover and the bullish playing of a willing ensemble, this bawdy romp consistently stumbles over its more contrived excesses.

Rated: 2/5

Jun 1, 2017

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Sarah Cartland

Caution Spoilers

Director John Jencks does a great job highlighting the cognitive dissonance resulting from the human race's uneasy blend of practicality and credulity. And Roger Allam is terrific as the self-loathing Ted Wallace, drunk poet turned drunk sleuth.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 9, 2019

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Matthew Bond

The Mail on Sunday (UK)

Sex, alcohol and a generous helping of four-letter invective all feature in a comedy-drama somewhat over-reliant on large gobbets of fruity narration and totally indebted to Allam's stand-out turn.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 10, 2017

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Jessica Baxter

Hammer Film Reviews

The rest of the supporting characters are little more than targets of Wallace's diatribes. That's not to say that the A plot lacks appeal. But Wallace is, without a doubt, the star of the show.

Aug 7, 2017

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Ian W

A really odd film. I'm a big fan of Stephen Fry, but not really sure where this one is coming from. Roger Allam is perfectly cast, but can't really save it. Is the main character a faith healer or a con artist? And do we care? All is revealed in a sub-Poirot/Mrs Marple denouement. It's just really odd. 5/10. "It passed the time", yup that's about it.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Paul C

Pretentious nonsense. Tried hard to see the point of the story but gave up, although I did see it to the end. I'm sure few people would have watched the film if it weren't for the cast.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/11/22

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Audience Member

Hippopotamus 14.2.21 4.5/0. I enjoyed this more than the last two films I watched, quite mesmerising. The ending had a feeling of stiltedness and a lack of closure, like an ongoing study. D.B.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

Really brilliant and comic use of language. Many laugh out loud moments! Loved it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

This movie must have took a life time to write . A lot of it went over my head but that was clearly the intent . The dialogue I was able to catch onto was enjoyable though . 2.4

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/13/20

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Audience Member

How the hell can someone get away with making a movie like this??? It depicts rape! The boy rapes two women and this movie makes no apology for it, instead trying to make the audience sympathise with the messed up boy! It is so worrying that people can watch this and not realise that this depicts rape and only shows sex scenes with women (what about the gay sex scene, not enough appeal?). This movie makes objects of women. It brushes over the fact that this boy has just legally raped two women and doesn't even take any time to go back to them and see how it's effected them... the next scene just shows the girl smiling? WHAT THE HELL? Which young girl would just smile after they've been deceived, humiliated and used like some sex object?! This ruins peoples' lives and this is entertainment? Stephen Fry should be completely ashamed, as should every person that thinks this movie is acceptable.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

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The Hippopotamus: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Poet Ted Wallace is summoned to his friend's country manor to investigate a series of unexplained miracles.

Director: John Jencks
Producer: Alexa Seligman, Jay Taylor
Screenwriter: Tom Hodgson, Blanche McIntyre
Distributor: Lightyear
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 15, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2017
Runtime: 1h 29m

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