Highly Overrated But Still Good

A lot of fun.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I was very impressed with "Bright Star," directed by Jane Campion. I've watched this movie at least three times. The acting is excellent, and the actors (Cornish, Whishaw, and all the supporting cast) realistically both the romantic passion of English ladies and gentlemen of this period and their restraint and adherence to social convention. When Fanny Brawne and John Keats express their love and devotion, they do so delicately and beautifully, with poetry (exquisite lines written by the great poet and delivered so hauntingly by Whishaw), surreptitious kisses, notes and subtle gestures. Not the garish grabbing and vulgar patter we see today. Campion's recreation of the English countryside and its slow-paced lifestyle is perfect. Cornish's Fanny is overwrought with emotion over her love for Keats, and even though it seems excessive to jaded moderns, I believe that was common for the time. Her feelings spill over. She doesn't know where to put them. She's also a feisty, determined, creative (she designs her own clothes and accessories) young woman with a zest for life and love. Keats is more introspective and quiet, but you feel how his love for her builds and deepens. "Bright Star" brings the Romantic period to life quite believably, and will encourage you to read Keats' poetry and more about the lives of these individuals.

I have to admit Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw were very good at playing their characters very well. They actually played a real couple in which it gave us a taste of history based on the relationship especially the hard times that was brought upon them.I'm not a poetry fan but I really enjoyed listening to some of the real John Keats real poems. I find that he's probably much a happier poet if he really felt in love and life giving him surprises especially having poor Fanny as his fiancé!It was really good to see Thomas Brodick Sanger and years & years singer Olly Alexander (didn't notice that he was the sick brother until I looked up Google images to which scene he was in) involved in this movie. He really is a good actor for a singer honestly. Safe to say, this is my first film of him in it, now for the next ones :D

"Bright Star" is a filmed biography of the poet John Keats, concentrating on his romantic relationship with Fanny Brawne during the last three years of his life. The story opens in 1818 when Keats and Fanny are introduced to one another while he is staying at the Hampstead home of his friend Charles Brown, and ends with his death from tuberculosis in Rome three years later. The title is derived from a sonnet by Keats named "Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art". (I keep the original spelling). The poem is believed to have been inspired by that romance and, although the reference in its opening line is clearly to a literal star, not a metaphorical one, Fanny has become known as Keats's "bright star".Recent years have seen a glut of films based on the novels of Keats's older contemporary Jane Austen, and these may have served as the inspiration for another film with a literary theme set against a Regency background. The film was directed by Jane Campion, who has made a number of other films with a literary or historical background, such as "An Angel at My Table" (a biography of the writer Janet Frame), "The Piano" (set in 19th century New Zealand), and "Portrait of a Lady" (based upon a novel by Henry James).As portrayed by Abbie Cornish, Fanny is a young lady of good family, obsessed with fashion and with creating dresses, hats, and other garments for herself. She is also flirtatious and seemingly shallow, a strange match for the more intellectual Keats. Another possible obstacle to their union is that Keats comes from a relatively humble background and fears that, because of the difference in their social standing, Fanny's family will not welcome him as a prospective match for her. As the film progresses, however, we begin to see more of Fanny's more serious side, and she and Keats fall deeply in love.I didn't care much for Ben Whishaw's performance in the first film I saw him in, "Perfume" from 2006, but he has certainly improved as an actor since then, on the basis of both this film and "Brideshead Revisited". Here he plays Keats as a rather quiet young man, externally aloof and reserved but deeply passionate underneath.As one might expect of a film from Campion on this particular theme, there is little in the way of physical action; the film deals more with emotional states and with the growth of love between Keats and Fanny. Like a number of British period dramas, the film is not only visually attractive but also sensitive and poetic and, in its tragic conclusion, deeply moving. A most enjoyable evening's viewing. 7/10

I loved, loved, LOVED this movie! Similar to The Young Victoria, don't expect anything like a biopic on Keats. Though it's mostly historically accurate, as far as I know, it's a romance above all else. And it is done very well. The whole movie has a very quiet feel- beautiful cinematography that uses a lot of natural light (it reminds me a lot of the 1995 Persuasion in its realistic look), exquisite costumes, and brilliant acting. Even the music, while beautiful, is quiet. There are sensual undertones throughout, but the romance, like the movie itself, is very restrained. The heroine is usually "chaperoned" by her younger siblings (her sister, Toots, is beyond adorable!), and the pair cannot marry due to poverty and then Keats' illness. Keats' friend and roommate, the greasy Mr. Brown, also tries to prevent their romance, but this really seems to only encourage them! The ending is tragic (Keats died of consumption at age 25) but the movie is just gorgeous.The movie is worth watching for the cinematography alone. Everything is understated and subtle, and yet left a bigger impression on me than anything on a grander scale ever has.By far my favorite thing about this movie was the costumes! It's set in the Regency, which is always a plus (for me at least. I love the fashions from that period). The heroine, Fanny, is a seamstress and prides herself on her fashionable clothes, which she makes all herself. I loved that the clothes in this actually looked hand-stitched. Fanny's gowns in the beginning can be a bit over-the-top (bright colors, big hats and collars) but become more subdued throughout the course of the film. Most of her shoes are really cute too, take notice! Some of Toots' dresses use the same fabrics as Fanny's, which I thought was a nice touch.This movie is not for everyone. If you like a lot of action and that sort of thing, you'll probably hate it. I may get slightly upset if I hear that anyone hates the costumes, though!