Educating Rita (1983)

Average rating

(72%)

Starring:	Julie Walters \| Michael Caine \| Malcolm Douglas \| Maureen Lipman
Director:	Lewis Gilbert
Studio:	ITV DVD
Run time:	106 mins
Genres:	Drama
Languages:	English
Released:	October 20, 2003
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Dr. Frank Bryant (Michael Caine) is an alcoholic professor of literature headed for dire straits. Rita (Julie Walters) is a frustrated young housewife filled with wanderlust. When the two meet as student and teacher, no lecture hall can contain their attraction for one another. As Rita engages her teacher in a fuzzy romance, she matures and discovers a new side of herself, but in the end she must choose either her marriage or the magnetic Dr. Bryant.
EDUCATING RITA reunites director Lewis Gilbert with star Michael Caine--they previously worked together in the 1966 drama ALFIE--and once again their collaboration is staggering. Bryant's shortcomings as a drunk and a womanizer are detestable, yet still Gilbert allows viewers to empathize with his character. In EDUCATING RITA, Gilbert once again demonstrates that he is not only a master of commanding the camera but a master at deconstructing the human heart as well.

Rating of 4 stars out of 5

This comedy drama is a joy from start to finish, largely thanks to Willy Russell's crisp adaptation of his successful stage play and the lead players' divine suitability for the roles. Julie Walters is great as the sassy, streetwise heroine, eager for higher learning but smart enough to spot Michael Caine's foibles at a hundred paces, and Caine has one of his best ever roles as the drink-sodden, cynical lecturer. There were some who moaned at the time that Walters's portrayal patronised bright working-class girls, but she brings genuine warmth to the part.

Rating of 1 stars out of 5
Halliwell's Film Guide

Rather dismal, thinly characterized and ill-lit variation on Pygmalion, with endless talk leading nowhere (it was originally a two-character play). Due to its Liverpudlian modishness it achieved surprising box-office success.

Highest rated reviews

3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Great!

A Customer from Cornwall, England, 20th April, 2004

Educating Rita is a play, written by Willy Russel, which investigates a wide range of issues that occur more than often nowadays. It?s a play that the audience can not only laugh at but also relate to, which is why it?s been such a great success in the form of a book and a film. But it wouldn?t have been nearly as popular without the sensational humour that Willy Russel brings to the play.
The play follows a Liverpudlian hairdresser that decides to change her life around and enter into an Open University course, where she meets Frank, a middle class professor who has a rather unhealthy addiction to alcohol. Frank attempts to teach her ?everything he knows? as Rita wants to pass exams at the end of the year. And on the road to success they come across more than they bargained for, including fights, fake accents and communication breakdowns. Frank and Rita might seem a world apart but as the story develops they bond in a way like no other where they become closer than you could ever possibly imagine.
This film is a fantastic piece of comedy, well worth the watch.

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3 out of 5 people found the following review helpful:

The Score!

Jason Smith from North London, 10th January, 2005

I remember watching this film some years ago and quite liking it for all its quirky British ness. There was some dark spectre hanging over it in my memory however and it was only when the film started it came straight back to me. It wasn?t Michael Cain?s wooden delivery, neither Julie Walters comedy Scouse accent, no it was the abomination that is the music score. Some one got a Moog Symph for Christmas circa 1983, a Beethoven album and Van Halen?s 1984 and was off on a self indulgent neo classical exploration up his or her own arse with all the extra treble, top end and trill that they could muster. I couldn?t handle it, when the music wasn?t playing I knew it would soon return scratching nails down boards, accidentally stepping on puppies and biting onto a forks with a mouth full of fillings. I decided there and then to get myself up to Blockbusters and watch the banal entertainment of I Robot instead. A man does not this kind of musical abuse at the beginning of the week. Good film I?m sure but maybe with subtitles and the sound off.

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Most recent reviews

Doing the unspeakeable to the bursar

MikeCarterInLondon from from London, 10th August, 2007

Two things make great movies - great writing and great acting. This has them both in spades. Willy Russell is remarkably good at making his characters say true and profound things while sounding like real people - women specifically - you might meet in the chip shop. Julie Walters angry scouser is beautifully realised. And It's my favourite Michael Cain performance - his kind hearted, but flawed drunken poet of an academic is a million miles from where he started his career, but proof positive of an amazing talent. So, do yourself a favour and watch this - even the jarring 1980's electronica score can't detract from film-making of the highest order.

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