Tom & Viv

PG-13

Released Dec 2, 1994

2h 5m

Biography

List

36%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

While studying at Oxford University in 1914, a young T.S. Eliot (Willem Dafoe) meets and is instantly smitten with Vivienne Haigh-Wood (Miranda Richardson). The two elope after a whirlwind romance, and it isn't until then that T.S. Eliot sees the darker side of his wife. Viv suffers from an extreme hormonal imbalance that causes wild mood swings and odd behavior. While she occasionally acts as a muse for the poet, her inconsistent behavior may prove too much for him to bear.

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steve d

Slow moving and not at all interesting.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

7.3/10, my review: http://wp.me/p1eXom-2ei

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sometimes biopics get lost and this is another prime example of one. Eliot's charm on the page is not translated into an interesting character despite the best efforts of Dafoe.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is a biopic of the life of poet T.S. Eliot (Tom) and Vivian Haigh-Wood, and their lives together. There are just so many things that deter excitement when it comes to this film, though their real relationship was rather bitter and caustic, which usually makes for decent biopics. The events of their lives have been analyzed by countless historians and there are two conflicting stories: one that Haigh-Wood was mentally insane and was sent away to an institution, which has been pretty accepted throughout time, and two, that Haigh-Wood was made insane by a misdiagnosis and sentenced to an asylum for the rest of her life, imprisoned by her husband and to a lesser extent by her brother. The latter is the now proven truth, and makes up the film's structure. Now, watching the actual film, you are not given that impression, because Eliot seems to be sympathized with. Throughout the film we see Haigh-Wood's declining health, her errant behavior, loud outbursts and crude language and actions. Eliot is shown to be soft spoken, reserved, and inclined to finally be part of the literary community, while Haigh-Wood is raucous and seems to be trying to oust her husband. She is supposed to be a free spirit, but that's not how it comes across. Eliot obviously wants to be respected with his poetry, and though he is shown to go to extreme lengths to do it, he doesn't tell Vivian to shut up, to take more medication, or threatens her in any way. The film shows that he plots to stick her away, and freezes her assets, making her a prisoner. This seems strange since he could have just divorced her, and though this may be the truth, it's not presented very clearly. A lot of stuff gets muddled in translation and then it ends abruptly. Even if it were truthful, it wouldn't make any sense, between the subdued murmur of Willem Dafoe and the shrill yells of Miranda Richardson.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Depressing. Dafoe is wooden (though perhaps Eliot was, too). Didn't finish watching it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I enjoyed Miranda Richard's performance, but had a lot of trouble picturing William Dafoe as T.S. Eliot.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

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Brian Gilbert

Director

Willem Dafoe

Tom Eliot

Miranda Richardson

Vivienne Haigh-Wood

Rosemary Harris

Rose Haigh-Wood

Tim Dutton

Maurice Haigh-Wood

Nickolas Grace

Bertrand Russel

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Sheila Johnston

Independent (UK)

An amount of telescoping is inevitable in a story which spans 32 years, but you are left with the feeling that the film has cunningly leapfrogged over key events you would have liked to see.

Nov 13, 2017

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B-

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Empire Magazine

Rated: 3/5

Dec 30, 2006

Full Review

Quentin Crisp

Christopher Street

How good Miss Harris is at portraying one of those English, upper-class, protected women (she was wonderful in the same sort of part on Broadway in An Inspector Calls).

Apr 21, 2022

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Miranda Richardson gives a distinguished, Oscar-nominated performance as poet T.S. Eliot's first, troubled wife in this disappointing and superficial biopic.

Rated: C

May 6, 2012

Full Review

Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

Rated: 2/5

Oct 9, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

While studying at Oxford University in 1914, a young T.S. Eliot (Willem Dafoe) meets and is instantly smitten with Vivienne Haigh-Wood (Miranda Richardson). The two elope after a whirlwind romance, and it isn't until then that T.S. Eliot sees the darker side of his wife. Viv suffers from an extreme hormonal imbalance that causes wild mood swings and odd behavior. While she occasionally acts as a muse for the poet, her inconsistent behavior may prove too much for him to bear.

Director: Brian Gilbert
Producer: Paul Colichman, Miles Copeland
Screenwriter: Michael Hastings, Adrian Hodges
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 2, 1994, Original
Release Date (DVD): Apr 8, 2003
Box Office (Gross USA): $48.6K
Runtime: 2h 5m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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