Educating Rita (1983)
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Willy Russell's adaptation of his own slick theatrical two-hander pits Liverpudlian housewife Walters, in pursuit of true learning via the Open University, against alcoholic academic hack Caine. Apart from the odd cinematic in-joke (Caine's booze concealed behind a copy of The Lost Weekend), Gilbert's direction remains serviceable but stolid: the film's faults - and merits - are mostly those of the play. A few flashes of wit and insight lie embedded in a morass of prejudice, cliché and evasion. Only Walters' ebullient movie debut as the chirpy working class sparrow wanting to 'sing a different song' (the role she created on stage) almost succeeds in infusing the exercise with infectious life.Author: SJo
Cast & crew
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Producer: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Michael Caine, Julie Walters, Michael Williams, Maureen Lipman, Jeananne Crowley, Malcolm Douglas full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 110 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.



What do you think?
Post your review now