Thanks for the memories!

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I have a Bachelor of Science in film, but more than that I love good movies. This however is not one of them. Absolutely awful, and in so many ways. Why any of the actors featured in this film would participate in such a badly written piece of absurdity is beyond me. It is not worth your time. Period. Based on the trailer, I expected a film that dealt in a realistic way with the evolving conflicts that might impact a British aristocratic family during this period of history. Instead what I saw was a film dealing in Fellini type absurdities and characters who behaved like zombies in one surreal scenario after another. It is unrealistic, difficult to follow and boring. Save your time, and watch another film. Any other film.

Glorious 39 has everything necessary for the makings of a great film, but for some unknown reason things got lost in translation and the finished product failed to deliver (and no, this is DEFINITELY not on par with Atonement!)The film starts slow and the first 20 minutes just don't seem to hit their beats. Then, once the plot begins to engage the viewer a lot of plot holes and unanswered questions begin to arise.We also get this rather strange attempt (or at least, what appears to be an attempt) to draw parallels between WW2 England and the modern war on terror (most notably the indefinite detention without charge, and the overarching state surveillance). These things just don't make a lot of sense though - were they a poorly executed attempt at commentary on post 9/11 geopolitics? Or were they meant to be plot devices to ramp up the tension and threat to our main protagonist? Either way, neither version of events is executed particularly well.Then there is the death of Lawrence - an event which should have really mattered to us as an audience, except it didn't, because Lawrence was barely developed as a character and as a result the audience never has a chance to care about him or even connect with him. He just doesn't get anywhere near enough screen time (in a film that has a running time of 2 hours!) and so his death doesn't have any real impact for us.To top things off, the movie concludes with an ending that is an anti-climax, and makes little real sense (the use of a final shot of young Anne even seems to indicate that at least someone involved in this film was concerned that the execution of the plot may leave some viewers confused about who the elderly woman in the chair was, so they had to spell it out as obviously as they possibly could).It's a real shame, because the atmosphere, acting and story concept are all top shelf - it's just a shame that the execution was so flawed.

I enjoyed this movie because it took a turn I wasn't expecting when the family started acting strangely. I didn't start to think about the plot holes till it was over--I kept thinking it would all come clear. But I gotta admit it didn't make sense. (1) Anne was adopted. Then we learn she was a gypsy. The English have always been so class conscious that an upper class person hardly speaks to anyone except those in their circle, so I find it impossible to believe they would take a Roma child into their family as a full member. (2) Before the war started, England was divided on their opinion of going to war. This is easily documented in any history book about WW 11. Some people wanted the war, some people didn't, some were sympathetic to Hitler (The Duke and Duchess of Windsor), and some just wanted him to go away. (3) At that time, (like now) the opinions of young women were regarded lightly. What they had to say did not account for much. Especially in politics, they were ignored. In view of (1) (2)and (3), please someone tell me why the Keyes family went to so much trouble, murder, lies, deception, cruelty to animals, and darn near killing Anne, just because she might hold a different opinion on the war. When her father was explaining it all to her, all he could come up with was she was a Roma (gypsy) and didn't fall in with the families' opinion of the war. It's pretty darn strange and puzzling to me. What did I miss? She wasn't political at all till they started their odd behavior.

What a tragic waste of a fantastic cast. A great idea (aristocratic pro-appeasement in the lead up to and early days of WWII) completely butchered. Half of it made no sense, there were obviously hidden meanings but they were very well hidden. Spoilers everywhere... Who were the undertakers digging up/burying sacks in the ruined abbey? And what were they burying/digging up? A strange man wearing a bowler hat cycling around the Norfolk countryside, why? If they were going to kill Ann anyway, why not do it after they have drugged her? The final revelation - she's still alive, wow! Christopher Lee's character was all of 12 during the main story and his brother was a baby, what was the point of any of it. I can't think of anything else to fill out this review, other than to say, if you are tempted to rent or buy this movie, don't bother, there are way better films out there. Atonement, for one which is vastly superior in every respect.