The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The film 'Under the Greenwood Tree', one of the more recent ones at least, does a good job in representing its theme. That its old and needs to evolve to modern life. Is the film good? Short answer, 'There is no short answer'. Long answer is as follows.This is a film that is quite different from the rest of the pack. It tries to be experimental with its shots. Well, as experimental as a made-for-TV-movie can be. Although there is one, 'opposite' shot. Or, in other words, a shot that is the opposite of what it should be. When Fancy Day tells Mr. Shiner that she can't marry him, the shot zooms out slowly. A shot that zooms in makes the audience feel for the character(s). This shot zooms out, making the audience care less and less for the character(s), and eventually even get bored of the character's plight and depression. And this scene is made even more awkward with the acting. Particularly, Mr. Shiner's. The actor who played him is a very funny comedian, who did the British TV show 'League of Gentlemen', but is he a good dramatic actor? No. Although his acting is not the worst in the film. That goes to the Zac Efron lookalike who plays Dick Dewy. He not only looks like Zac Efron, but has the same acting ability as well. He may be good to look at, but a game-changing actor he is not. That's not to say all the acting is bad. The acting of both Fancy Day and Mr. Maybold was quite good on their part, and they really saved the film from being an actor's hell.The script was fairly good in the film. It was hardly a Tarantino script, but it made due. It stayed quite faithful to the book, although many of the more supernatural events were taken out, which is a good thing. However, there were a few a few too many clichés in the film, that could've been taken out. And the chopping down of the original rural idyll into a family friendly Victorian melodrama which is all too predictable, did not do the book any justice. It could get boring after a while. Anyone who has read the book knows the characters aren't cardboard cut-outs, and wouldn't have known who Fancy was going to choose. Anybody watching the film would know from a mile away.

I normally approach Hardy adaptations with extreme caution as they have the ability to tarnish the brightest of moods. I read some of the previews and persuaded myself to give it a go. To my joy and astonishment this was a fantastic Christmas treat which the reviewer above clearly failed to understand. Whoever wrote it has clearly no real authority on Hardy whatsoever. The pages of the novel came to light perfectly on the small screen. Hawes was a perfect Ms Day, playing delightfully and genially into the audience's hand. However, for me the performance that stole the show was Pemberton playing a fantastically funny Shiner. He portrayed it with both depth and humour and lit up the screen every time he graced it. The scenery was stunning, the plot had depth and kept me and my family gripped throughout. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a warm heart, as it certainly warmed mine.

Under The Greenwood Tree is a very enjoyable film that tells the story of three men falling in love with a new teacher in the village. it shows how she changes within the story and it is a very good adaption of the novel by the classic author; Thomas Hardy. It is very strange watching this film when you live in jersey as all of the locations are familiar to you. I would have given a 10 but it didn't have the dog running through the may pole fair- which took a very long time to film as the dog was more interested in the chickens! Also i found the story moves quite quickly, but if it was made longer the audience may lose interest. at least this way you can finish watching it in excitement as it is a perfect drama for Christmas. it shows all the for seasons with great detail.Filming Under The Greenwood Tree was a great experience and was the best summer of my life I made some good friends and thought all the crew was great. The film made me realise that the crew are the most important element to a film and i would just like 2 say thanks 2 them all! xx

No attempt has been made to echo Hardy's humorous and deeply affectionate appreciation of the English countryside and it's people around the time that he was born.This is a trite and bland rendition of a novel that is rich and warm with a loving nostalgia for a way of life which the writer saw had disappeared into the Industrial Revolution.The story has been chopped and changed into a melodramatic, Victorian love story and the script is banal and cliché-ridden. The actors playing the rustic villagers do a good job but are let down by unimaginative direction, lighting and decor.The young lovers are ' cardboard cut-out '.The opportunity to make a wonderful ' English ' film has been passed over. The work suffers from Television companies' desire to sell soap powder as cheaply as possible.