And since so many “continuation” films fall on their faces, I appreciated that they kept this a tad frothy, for fans. Like visiting friends, catching up with their “today.”
I’m wondering if it would feel like enough (work as a standalone,) without having seen the series.
We saw the movie this afternoon. There was a decent crowd, but not packed. I would not see it if you haven’t seen the series. Even having seen it I had to remind myself of where we had left off. Maggie Smith gets all the best lines. It was fluff, but I enjoyed it.
Long running tv series sometimes have episodes known as “Valentines to their Fans”. This was EXACTLY what this was.
My theater was maybe a quarter full. (A matinee, and a major chain that has 6 showings/day.)
I agree, @maya54 . A gift to us. This is one I’d rewatch annually, on some lazy afternoon. And smile.
Literally teared up at the movie’s first shot of Highclere castle. The movie’s pace seemed a bit fast to me, or perhaps I just wanted to loll about watching the set and costumes!
I agree that it seemed a bit rushed, I would have liked to see the sub plots developed a bit more and more time with the children. Loved the costumes!!!
My new favorite line, " …I’ll lick the stamps myself!"
I just got home from seeing the movie and, except for the assigned seating that packed us in like coach seating on an airplane, I loved everything about it.
I saw it on Thursday night with a group of friends. I LOVED it, despite the fact that it was exactly the same as paying to watch the TV, albeit in bigger seats and in total darkness. It was exactly as I expected: a two hour TV episode, with the expected lovely costumes and predictable lines. This is all a compliment, btw.
I loved the banter between Mrs. Crawley and the Dowager Countess.
Saw it this afternoon and loved it. Everyone gets a happy evening. Theater was full with predominantly over 50 women. And the promotional trailers were not well thought out for marketing to that audience. Lots of violent movie trailers.
I also saw it this afternoon. Our audience was also almost all over 50 women. The promotional trailers were also not well thought out, but we got muppets and kiddie cartoon ads.
Trailers for my showing were Last Christmas (produced by Emma Thompson evidently), Playing with Fire, Little Women (I teared up a little for that one - one of my favorite books of all time) and the Harriet Tubman movie. Probably as good as they could have done to match the movie.
I have thought about the film off and on since yesterday and can’t decide if the conversation between Lady Mary and the Dowager Countess tied it up with a bow or set the stage for another movie. I would love another movie if it could live up to this one, but I don’t want one that doesn’t live up to this one.
I loved how Anna took charge of the downstairs folks and Mrs. Hughes was no “shrinking violet” either.
Perhaps not surprisingly, given who’s posting on the thread, but Downton Abbey was #1 at the box office this weekend, and the audience skewed heavily female.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/downton-abbey-crowned-no-1-150500415.html
DH and I saw it this weekend. Mostly an over 50 crowd. The theater that took reservations didn’t have many seats so we went to one that didn’t and there was plenty of room. We both enjoyed it, like visiting with old friends. I wish that Mosley wasn’t made to be SO goofy! I think if you like that genre, you could have enjoyed it without watching the series, but it was so much better to have known the back stories of each character. I did keep expecting a Delores Umbridge “hem hem” and a pink suit from Lady Bagshaw.
Add me to the list. I smiled throughout the movie. It was fluffy, fun and escapist. On another forum someone posted “it was so good to see them again” and that’s how I felt. Like a family reunion. I don’t see the movie appealing to most people who haven’t seen the show. As always I loved the costumes and hairstyles. I watched the series on a laptop so seeing it on the big screen was also nice. It’s a big screen show / movie.
The theater I saw it in wasn’t too crowded and it was mostly, as I told my husband, women who couldn’t see to climb the stairs and find a seat in the dark. LOL - I stood on the side with several until the screen (playing the Harriet preview) lit up enough to find a seat.
Trailers were Harriet, Malificent and Ferrari vs Ford, to which I heard a male voice behind me say “we need to see that one.”
There was another trailer that looked somewhat interesting. Can’t recall the movie’s name but Benedict Cumberbatch plays Edison. Tesla is also a character.
I agree that some of the story lines could have been eliminated as unnecessary to the overall story arc. Then the film wouldn’t have seemed so fast paced.
I’m really glad that it did so well at the box office. More hope for another installment. It’s refreshing to see a movie where the characters are basically civil and polite to one another, where there are no grisly murder scenes, gratuitous violence, car chases, explosions or creatures from outer space.
Agree that Mosley was OTT. And was a tad annoyed that he and Baxter didn’t end up sharing a passionate snog in the broom cupboard.
I definitely thought Violet’s confession to Mary seemed to close the door on sequels. At this point in the film, the Depression is just a few years away. I can’t see a sequel being a repeat of the same as this movie, and will the public embrace a Downton in real decline? Not sure about that.
I don’t know. Lord Merton got a health reprieve in the TV final episode.
The Current War
I looked it up too. Made a few years ago, but release held up by the Weinstein mess. It got panned in the few reviews when it was released for a film festival.
How is the age of the movie goer determined? At my movie theater, I simply pay for the ticket without giving any personal information,