Campion, who won fans with The Piano (1993) and lost them with the dismal In the Cut (2003) here returns to the top of her form.
Comment
11/22/09
Bright Star (2009)
83
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:125
Fresh:104
Rotten:21
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Jane Campion's direction is as refined as her screenplay, and she gets the most out of her cast -- especially Abbie Cornish -- in this understated period drama.
Genre: Dramas
US Box Office: $4,341,275
Synopsis: London 1818: a secret love affair begins between 23 year old English poet, John Keats, and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, an outspoken student of fashion. This unlikely pair started at odds;... [More]
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox
Director: Jane Campion
Reviews for Bright Star
Bright Star is an admirable film made by a superb craftsman, but for me, Campion fails to deliver the big emotional punch she hopes to land.
11/13/09
Sit and savour this marvellous film until the lights come up.
11/13/09
A combination of unstuffy dialogue, wise casting, unselfconscious performances and sensuous but never pretty photography makes Campion’s version of the nineteenth century feel current but not anachronistic.
11/06/09
An eloquent, well-crafted return to form - and return to corsets and period frocks - for Jane Campion, who uses the character of Fanny Brawne, the survivor, to give a unique perspective on the creative, terminal period in the life of John Keats.
11/06/09
Without major tension, conflict or crisis, Brawne and Keats simply mope about, moon at each other, talk about literature and wait for the great poet to die from tuberculosis.
11/06/09
Top CriticDramatically static from first to final frame, it charts the non-progress of the central relationship as a series of nineteenth-century feints and counter-feints.
11/06/09
Top CriticA wonderfully realised account of intoxicating love and a movie with spirit and soul. Don't expect it to set the box office on fire though.
11/06/09
This shrugs off the musty restraints of costumed stereotypes and concentrates exclusively on the slowburning affair as Keats finds himself "dissolving" as love draws him in.
11/06/09
Quietly shedding all the fussy baggage of ‘heritage drama’, Campion gives us a moving account of Keats’ great love and tragic death. A film of pictorial beauty and authenticity, graced with a fine cast.
11/06/09
There's a spellbinding, painterly quality to the way Campion depicts the changing seasons (between 1819 and 1820) and it sets a mood that complements the poet's vivid and sensuous style.
11/06/09
It simmers rather than sizzles, shimmers rather than sears. But possession of a Y chromosome is by no means an obstacle to enjoyment of it.
11/06/09
There's a fine line between fragile sensitivity and wimpishness, and Ben Whishaw tramples all over it. He is the drippiest British actor since the Merchant Ivory heyday of James Wilby.
11/06/09
[Bright Star] may have inspired some beautiful poetry but, here, provokes mere yawns.
11/06/09
A heavenly delight.
11/06/09
Steadfastness, truth and a simple, blazing, incandescent humanity. This is a literary life story in which life, for once, is the meaningful word.
11/06/09
Bright Star deals with the sonnets and the bonnets – top marks to the production and costume designer, Janet Patterson – with wit and restraint, and proves that a chaste romance needn't lack for passion, or poetry.
11/06/09
Beautiful cinematography, exceptional performances and an admirable sense of restraint combine to make it one of the most gorgeous and satisfying period dramas in recent memory.
11/06/09
Campion has created another resonant paean to love’s pain and joy, and gives new life to John Keats, too often now associated with dusty school books.
11/06/09
Top CriticBright Star is that rare and upbraiding thing, a film - perhaps the last one of the year - that seeks not to jam your emotions or scare you silly, but asks you to think about words.
11/06/09
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