It's a pity that this isn't the real story of Joseph Mortimer Granville's invention, as although an entertaining story is presented the comedy detracts from men's historical treatment of women and the use of the term 'hysteria' as a dismissal of all female ills. There's a really interesting story which was only hinted at in this film.

It's pretty underwhelming stuff, principally because the movie gets really bogged down with a paint by numbers women's lib/court case piece that is beyond generic. The naughtiness and fun is vanilla at best. Gyllenhaal is well cast but it's all too tame. Poor Rupert Everett, once a strikingly handsome man, has sadly disfigured himself with surgery and can't move his face.

A Very 'Pleasurable' Watch

Primarily a factual and very humorous drama about one man’s search for fame and fortune, all be it through the invention of something we know this day to be something secretive and laughable.

The script is witty and well thought out, and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance really puts a glow on top of it that maybe it needed. Jonathon Pryce and Felicity Jones also do an amazing job as Dr Robert and Emily Dalrymple, putting on the final touches it needed.

I’d go out on a limb here and say that I’m sure they enjoyed making this as much as I enjoyed watching it.

A bit cutesy way of describing a very important time in psychology, still fun. Maggie is delightful as always.

The story of the invention of the vibrator and the beginnings of feminism could have been sexy and subversive; instead, they went the Road to Wellville route of broad, wink-wink humor, mostly of the "isn't it cute how much the Victorians didn't know?" variety. Still, it's a bit better than The Road to Wellville; the cast elevates the material, and the scenes of Jonathan Pryce and Hugh Dancy administering their treatment made me laugh despite myself. And the idealism of Maggie Gyllenhaal's character, determined to care for and empower the starving, huddled masses, resonated with me - that her character flat-out defends socialism deserves a hearty cheer. It's kind of a letdown, not to mention the tamest R-rated movie in memory, but its heart is in the right place.

I had read about this movie so I didn't know what to expect when I saw it and if it was going to be a comedy or a drama and I guess it was a little of both but not what I thought that it was going to be. There was good acting in it, but it just felt like a flat story to me where nothing really that interesting happened in it, but I guess that if it is based on facts then you can't change that much in it without stretching the truth.

Solidly enjoyable tale of the invention of the vibrator, though I found it the rare instance wherein I wished the narrative had not invested so much in character development and hewn closer to the marketing and growth in popularity of the device, which is largely bypassed in the final act.

Não esperava tanto do filme, me surpreendeu. Embora o enredo trate da historia da histeria enquanto parte da psicologia e da invenção do vibrador, o enredo que, marcante na libertação de tabus e estereótipos vigentes é uma divertida historia sobre escolhas e destino. A mim a melhor parte fica a filha rebelde, quase socialista que luta pelo que acredita. "Há alguma vaga em um relacionamento democrático? Baseado na cogestao?"

Muy divertida y graciosa xD

Cute and funny, but a bit slow. It's about how the vibrator was invented!

Enjoyable movie about the nearly universal diagnosis of "hysteria" in Victorian England to cover a wide range of issues for women, including sexual desire. The movie is light and generally comic, though it does present a women's liberation message, though in a Hollywood style, where everything is easily resolved. The cast is fine and all do well their respective roles. Maggie Gyllenhaal even manages an acceptable British accent. I'm sure there's much more to the story and clearly many liberties were taken to conform this a Hollywood style movie. In the end the filmmaker's clearly decided to take a gentle, entertaining look at the issue, rather than delve more deeply into the sexual politics. With that in mind, the movie is successful in what it sets out do do.

Todavía me sigue sorprendiendo que esta historia sea verídica. Excelente filme del que aprendí acerca de la " Hysteria. Recomendable Lo único es que hubiese querido más química entre los actores. Véanla. Se reirán mucho.

I'm sure that within the story of Joseph Mortimer Granville and the invention of the vibrator at the end of the 19th Century, there is a really interesting film. Hysteria is not it.

Having said that it does have some qualities - the cinematography and design (production & costume) at least makes it nice to look at and the actors all try their hardest to give the stock characters a little more life. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Felicity Jones look as beautiful as always and Rupert Everett is always a pleasure to watch.

Definitely not one I'd rush to watch again but if it happened to be on TV one wet and wintry afternoon I'd think twice about switching it off.

Caught this last night and ended up really enjoying it. Nice, easy going film about the invention of the vibrator. I suspect that plenty of artistic licence was used overall but it didn't matter for me. Very funny in places and the great performances helped as well. Maggie Gyllenhall's British accent was, as usual, faultless.