Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Tom & Viv

Play trailer Poster for Tom & Viv PG-13 Released Dec 2, 1994 2h 5m Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
36% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
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.
Watch on Peacock Stream Now

Where to Watch

Tom & Viv

Critics Reviews

View All (14) Critics Reviews
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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (36) audience reviews
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 Read all reviews
Tom & Viv

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Vincent and Theo 90% 72% Vincent and Theo Watchlist Christopher Columbus: The Discovery 7% 17% Christopher Columbus: The Discovery Watchlist Wyatt Earp 31% 61% Wyatt Earp Watchlist Romero 80% 80% Romero Watchlist Sweet Dreams 90% 81% Sweet Dreams Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

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
Harvey Kass, Marc Samuelson, Peter Samuelson
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
Most Popular at Home Now