Overrated

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Dance With a Stranger is directed by Mike Newell and written by Shelagh Delaney. It stars Miranda Richardson, Rupert Everett, Ian Holm, Stratford Johns and Joanne Whalley. Theme song is by Mari Wilson and cinematography by Peter Hannan.On Easter Sunday 1955, Ruth Ellis shot and killed her lover David Blakely. Wednesday 13th July 1955, Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be executed in Great Britain.Dance With a Stranger is a beautifully delicate film, producing what could have been a thorny issue movie, director Newell and his team stay clear of moralising or judgemental narrative smarts. They instead unspool an insightful film about a tragic crime of passion, a crossed classes love affair that ultimately spelt doom for both of the ill equipped parties.Sticking mostly to the real facts, with only some dramatic license inevitably taken, pic harnesses themes of lust, jealousy, dark passion and obsession, played out to a 50s London backdrop of underworld movers and club dwelling shakers. It's a sad story, even sordid at times, but it never once reaches for the sensationalist option.Though we are deprived of the court case and execution closure; and in fact the aftermath of the hanging which gnawed away at the conscience of a post-war Britain, it's a film that shows all that it needs to show. This wants us to look at the human beings involved, and then it asks us to draw our own conclusions about the principal players.Excellently performed by Richardson and Holm, and superbly mounted by Newell and his technical crew, this is cinema for grown ups and one of the best British movies of the decade. 9/10

This is a haunting, finely-crafted film that transports the viewer to another time and place from the very first frames of the movie. The sets, lighting, fashions, and make-up all unify to create a special cinema experience. It is restrained, refined, mature, and civilized. In its dark way, this film captures a type of story-telling magic that only movies can create. It is an eternal, personal favorite, and one of the best films of the decade. Miranda Richardson is irreplaceable; she inhabits the role, completely. The supporting cast is equally effective. Unfortunately, the latest DVD cover lacks the powerful, simple black-and-white design of vintage promotional material. The original imagery was as classic and elegant as the film, itself. It is a fine piece of movie-making. I wish more directors aspired to this type of work.

Although best known for his blockbuster hits FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL and LOVE ACTUALLY, Mike Newell does a splendid job of bringing this tragic tale to the screen. The cinematography is lush and the recreation of London in the 1950's, both sets and costumes, is brilliantly realized. Obsession can be a difficult subject to tackle and yet one is compelled by the script, the visuals, and most of all the consummate acting, to see this affair through to it's conclusion. Miranda Richardson is the woman trapped by her need to make a good living and her inability to disentangle herself from the clutches of a destructive affair. An incredibly young Ruppert Everett and the redoubtable Ian Holm make up the other two sides of this twisted triangle. While all three actors shine, Richardson's portrayal is one of an individual tortured by a relationship that can never be and at a loss to explain why it endures to herself or anyone else. Not for the faint of heart but well worth the effort. Based on a true story.

I've just read the last user review on this film & I would advise anyone who has any knowledge of the Ruth Ellis story to ignore it. There were legal reasons why everything was not explained. The boy was a result of a war time romance. Ruth Ellis also had a husband (& daughter) who for legal reasons could not be named or mentioned. Ian Holm played the part of her lover who did exist & did nothing to help her once she was arrested. If you don't understand the film read the following books first & then watch the film: Ruth Ellis: The Last Woman to Be Hanged (Robert Hancock) Ruth Ellis: My Sister's Secret Life (Muriel Jakubait, Monica Weller) Ruth Ellis, My Mother: A Daughter's Memoir of the Last Woman to Be Hanged (Georgie Ellis, Rod Taylor) Personally I think the film is excellent but of course I did know the story before I watched it.