Why so much hype?

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Pretty Good

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

This is the second movie version of Elizabeth von Arnim's novel. This low-action movie is about seven very different kinds of people who are thrown together for a time. One thing they all have in common is that, without realizing it, their lives in post-war London had become routine, humdrum, and fossilized.Lottie Wilkins (Josie Lawrence) is dominated by her conservative and controlling husband, Mellersh (Alfred Molina). He is trying to build his law practice with influential people and needs his wife to reflect his conservatism in social situations. Also, he is teaching her to be frugal with her money by writing down all of her expenditures. Lottie, on the other hand, is more non-conventional than that. She dreams of something that will jar her lose from her London life—if only for a little while. She is attracted when she sees an advertisement in a newspaper for a one-month rental of a secluded villa on the Italian cost.Realizing that she doesn't have the money to do it by herself, she approaches a fellow member from her ladies social club, Rose Arbuthnot (Miranda Richardson). Rose is married to a rather common and unimaginative man, Frederick (Jim Broadbent), who writes spicy (but profitable) romance novels, mainly for women. Rose and Fredrick are in a non-ideal marriage; his work doesn't mix well with her strongly-held conventional religious feelings. The two women go to see the man who owns the castle, George Briggs (Michael Kitchen). George is a shy lonely man living in a large London home. When they meet George, they learn that he plays a plaintive musical instrument that he feels sums him up: he plays the oboe. The two women give George a down payment for their month in his Italian castle, San Salvatore.When they realize that another woman, a Mrs. Fisher, wants the castle for the same month, they visit her at her home. Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright) is an older woman who lives alone but has connections with VIPs all over London. She is an intellectually haughty woman who constantly drops the names of all of the great literary figures that she had known from her childhood on. These had been dead in the early 1920s (the setting for this story) but were still well known in British literary circles: George Meredith and Alfred Lord Tennyson, to name a couple. When Lottie innocently asks Mrs. Fisher if she knew Keats, Mrs. Fisher snaps back. "NO, I most certainly did NOT know Keats--nor Shakespeare--nor Chaucer, either." As if so say, "How old do you think I am, anyway?" The opening relationship between Mrs. Fisher and Lottie and Rose is further soured when Mrs. Fisher offers her references and suggests that they do the same. They refuse based on the principle of the situation, and Mrs. Fisher is therefore coaxed into waving off the idea of exchanging references.When the three women arrive at San Salvatore, they find their fourth villa companion there—alone and aloof: the young, attractive, flapper Polly Walker (Caroline Dester). She wants to be left alone. She needs time to re-group after her late husband's death in the war and/or to get away from grabbing men who seem to be constantly drawn towards her.This unlikely foursome is surrounded by a staff of simple Italian servants. Only Polly and Mrs.Fisher speak Italian. But, as Fisher remarks to herself, "Polly's Italian is more suited to the staff since hers is the Italian of the kitchen while Mrs. Fisher's is the Italian of Dante. What's interesting to watch in this movie is how the four women's personalities and outlooks evolve during their month at San Salvatore. This is due to their brightened outlook about themselves, the salutary effect of taking a vacation from their lives in London and escaping from their individual types of loneliness. When George Briggs and the two husbands come to visit San Salvatore, they get a chance to "pair off" and rekindle their marriages or establish new relationships. As Lottie says, "This place is a "Tub of love."

Nice character development in a pretty cool milieu. Being a male, I'm probably not qualified to totally understand it, but they do a nice job of establishing the restrictive Victorian environment from the start. It isn't as bleak as it really was and the treatment of women was probably even harsher. What makes this go is a wonderful chemistry among the principal characters. Each has their own "thing" that they contend with. Once they come out of the rain and break out of the spider webs, they begin to interact and slowly lose their sense of suspicion. What I enjoyed about this movie is that it didn't go for cheap comedy when it could have. It didn't try to pound a lesson into us. The people who seem utterly without merit are really nicely developed human beings who get to see the light. I did have a little trouble with the Alfred Molina character having such an epiphany so quickly, but, within this world, it needed to happen. Good acting all around with something positive taking place in the lives of some pretty good people.

"My child, my sister, dream How sweet all things would seem Were we in that kind land to live together, And there love slow and long, There love and die among Those scenes that image you, that sumptuous weather."Charles Baudelaire Based on the novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim, "Enachanted April" can be described in one sentence – it takes place in the early 1920s when four London women, four strangers decide to rent a castle in Italy for the month of April. It is the correct description but it will not prepare you for the fact that "Enchanted April" - an ultimate "feel good" movie is perfection of its genre. Lovely and sunny, tender and peaceful, kind and magical, it is like a ray of sun on your face during springtime when you want to close your eyes and smile and stop this moment of serene happiness and cherish it forever. This is the movie that actually affected my life. I watched it during the difficult times when I was lost, unhappy and very lonely, when I had to deal with the sad and tragic events and to come to terms with some unflattering truth about myself. It helped me to regain my optimism and hope that anything could be changed and anything is possible. I had promised to myself then that no matter what, I would pull myself out of misery and self-pity and I would appreciate every minute of life - with its joy and its sadness...I promised myself that I would go to Italy and later that year I did and I was not alone.Charming, enchanting, and heartwarming, "Enchanted April" is one of the best movies ever made and my eternal love. This little film is a diamond of highest quality.

This is one of the best movies. It is one of my favorites. A movie with good acting. The story is very sensitive and touching. Good camera work also.The names of the actresses and actors are not at the top of the American Star list. However, they give equal or better performances than the top of the list.It is such a pleasure to see a movie about true love, romance, friendship without having to endure watching someone having to kick-box their way to save the world.If you don't like this movie then you have no heart or feelings. Then go watch a sports movie. There is no killing or horror here. See the movie. It is a must. TH