Wit

PG-13

2001

1 hr. 39 min.

Drama

List

83%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

91%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Professor Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson), an expert on the work of 17th-century British poet John Donne, has spent her adult life contemplating religion and death as literary motifs. Diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer, she consents to an aggressive and experimental form of chemotherapy administered by Dr. Kelekian (Christopher Lloyd) and his assistant, Dr. Posner (Jonathan M. Woodward), her former student. Facing death on a personal level, she reflects on her life and work.

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Jeff M

This is one of the most emotionally exhausting and painful viewing experiences I've ever had - my heart was heavy for hours afterwards! I can't remember another movie that so vividly portrayed the ravages of illness - not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. Thompson is out-of-this-world amazing and gives probably one of the best performances I've seen. Amazingly - and thankfully - it's also filled with a good amount of humor. The film breaks down the fourth wall, and has Thompson often talk directly to the audience, a conceit I'm not usually crazy about but works for this material. My only minor quibble is that some of the supporting characters, particularly the doctors, come across as caricatures and very one-note. But otherwise this is an experience that you won't forget - even though you may now want to revisit it ever again.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

jon c

It's a matter of life and death. For Vivian she's using all of her wit to make light of the situation despite the odds against her. Based on the stage play and directed by Mike Nichols. Emma Thompson is Vivian Bearing. She's a professor that has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She knows the struggles, disadvantages, and the many side effects that will come. For her religion and death are part of literary motifs. Christopher Lloyd is Dr. Kelekian who offers her a form of chemotherapy. The movie has Emma Thompson narrate to the audience her many contributions to the world of English literature. We go back and forth over the last several years of her life. Time can be so still, going through treatment is educational but also very degrading and invasive, tedious is one thing but having a sickness is something else entirely The many emotions Thompson has to convey as a woman nearing the end of her lifespan is overwhelming. But she still gives a tour de force of a performance.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Amazing performance by Emma Thompson in her role of a stage 4 cancer patient. Interesting juxtaposition of her role of an English Literature professor and her expertise in John Donne and coming to grips with her death.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Prepare for a great performance that will leave you breathlessly despondent. This is theatre art, on film, to be experienced...not so much enjoyed. If feeling temporary gloom, this film may be the antidote to your self-pity.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent story telling about how critical it is for compassion in Health Care!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Powerful. Hard to watch. Worth the effort. Scary since accurately portrays the medical profession and the often emotional abandonment of the patient at her most vulnerable.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

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Mike Nichols

Director

Emma Thompson

Vivian Bearing

Christopher Lloyd

Dr. Harvey Kelekian

Eileen Atkins

Evelyn "E.M." Ashford

Audra McDonald

Susie Monahan

Jonathan M. Woodward

Dr. Jason Posner

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John Leonard

New York Magazine/Vulture

From the Margaret Edson play that deserved its Pulitzer Prize, Mike Nichols has made a television movie that deserves not only an Emmy but our baffled gratitude as well.

Feb 6, 2018

Full Review

Eddie Cockrell

Variety

A shrewd and triumphant retooling of Margaret Edson's 1997 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Wit tempers its harrowing tale of an English literary scholar's fierce fight against ovarian cancer with a strong strain of the title trait.

Jul 7, 2010

Full Review

Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: 4/5

Jun 21, 2005

Full Review

Dan Jardine

Cinemania

Thompson gives a real tour-de-force performance, moving professor Bearing from bemusement to curiousity, fear to confusion, anger to anguish with skilful subtlety

Rated: 86/100

Jan 10, 2010

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Nov 12, 2004

Full Review

Randy Shulman

Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

Rated: 3/5

Jul 1, 2004

Full Review

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Synopsis

Professor Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson), an expert on the work of 17th-century British poet John Donne, has spent her adult life contemplating religion and death as literary motifs. Diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer, she consents to an aggressive and experimental form of chemotherapy administered by Dr. Kelekian (Christopher Lloyd) and his assistant, Dr. Posner (Jonathan M. Woodward), her former student. Facing death on a personal level, she reflects on her life and work.

Director: Mike Nichols
Executive Producer: Cary Brokaw, Mike Nichols
Screenwriter: Emma Thompson, Mike Nichols
Production Co: HBO Films, Avenue Pictures
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 17, 2017

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