Recent reviews

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  Review by Henry J ★★★

  I swear, I don't mean to have this streak of three star films. This film just can only be described as a three star film. There is nothing really bad about this film, but at the same time there is nothing really different and amazing about this film. So I guess I'll go down my problems with the film.

  One thing about this film that people should know is that the film really celebrates hollywood a lot. Or maybe it screams at hollywood for destruction. I honestly don't know. So keep that in mind when watching this film. Also note that this film is almost entirely a fashion show. I swear I noticed how beautiful "Maria" was throughout the entire…

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  Review by Veronica ★★★½

  I expected this to be more 50’s soap, but it’s actually quite good. If the acting is a bit overdone, the writing saves it. Snappy, snappy, snappy, and it is nice to see a story in this era that doesn’t involve some big forced romance between the two main characters. They’re friends, and it stays that way, and it’s nice. Bogart is darling and droll, as always.

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  Review by kulturac ★★★½

  Hollywood takes a melodramatic look at itself and an idolatry of super-stars, such Ava Gardner sure was. Unearthly.

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  Review by anne_f_ ★★½

  "This is a very melodramatic, satirical look at the film business - it was well acted, but I found that it was just too long."

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  Review by paulsfriendjohn ★★★½

  I tried to watch this several years ago and turned it off after about 15 minutes. Just wasn't in the mood. But considering its pedigree, I figured I had to give the complete film a chance before dismissing it from my radar completely. And still it does nothing for me.

  All of the elements are there: a Behind the Scenes Hollywood story; a great cast with one actor I love (Bogart) and one I've always liked (Gardner); an Oscar-winning performance from a long-time character actor; a writer/director with an impeccable record in Hollywood; Technicolor cinematography from Jack Cardiff... and I just didn't care.

  Now, it's easy to compare The Barefoot Contessa with All About Eve, as they're both backstagers told…

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  Review by Thor-Eirik Johnsen ★★★★½

  A cynical masterpiece of Hollywood self loathing.

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  Review by Zach Betonte ★★★★★

  Arguably Ava Gardner's best performance, sharing excellent on-screen chemistry with Humphrey Bogart, who gives a very wise and nuanced performance with a character who somewhat resembles Bogart's own career flaws at the time. It's beautiful with lavish settings and visuals, yet bleak and cynical, riddled with classic storytelling troupes, that for some reason, resonate really well for me within this package. I've always loved films about tragic Hollywood starlets, and "The Barefoot Contessa" is one of the very best.

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  Review by ndoane ★★★

  [Bogart and Ava Gardner] Bogart wasn't playing his patented tough guy with a heart of gold character this time, but I still liked him. The other times I've seen him outside his standard role, I haven't enjoyed it. He's not stretching that much as the beaten down director with a heart of gold, but still. Ava Gardner is perfectly caste as a gorgeous woman that all men want and commands everyone’s attention. She really was stunning. After those two though, everyone else isn't very good or interesting. I liked a lot of the attempts at meta-commentary on the making of film and how stories and real-life interact. I think they went over board on that though. The biggest problem is…

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  Review by HayleyRoseHill ★★★★

  While Mankiewicz employs his signature style with this film, the un-chronological sequencing and multiple narrators don't make up for the ultimately lack-lustre and a little confusing plot. Ava Gardner, in the role of Maria Vargas, however does! She is scintillating as a Spanish dancer turned Hollywood actress and always maintains the crucial sense of mystery and likeability. She is a humble siren, someone to envy and also to sympathise with. Humphrey Bogart is lovely in his role of unwitting "Godfather" and it is refreshing to see a film where the two main characters form a friendship rather than just another love affair.