Keeping Mum
THINKFilm | Release Date: September 15, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
8
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
VarietyDerek Elley
Rather dark, decidedly English and exceedingly well played, Keeping Mum is a neatly crafted black comedy with more than a nod in tone toward the Ealing classic "The Ladykillers." Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A giddy black comedy about a homicidal housekeeper in rural England, is a hilarious reminder of that 1944 Frank Capra classic about two old maids whose cellar is cluttered with the bodies of would-be suitors. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The script (by Richard Russo) is solid, the performances are witty and fun, and the movie is a most agreeable way to spend an hour and a half. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A whimsical tale of serial murder in the English countryside, Keeping Mum benefits immensely from the charm and pitch-perfect gravitas of Kristin Scott Thomas. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
In Keeping Mum, the writers poke gentle, broad fun at the absurdities of English country life and manners while creating a cozy malevolence that's all the more engaging because it lies so far from reality. We know we mustn't murder our loathsome neighbors. But how much fun it is to imagine that we might. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Dame Maggie is simply delightful (has she ever been less than wonderful?). Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Director and cowriter Niall Johnson's black comedy falters at the end, but until then it manages to wring gentle humor from murder most well bred. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Amusing dark English comedy produces its share of chuckles. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
It’s refreshing to see Dame Maggie in a lighter mode than usual. The role of a genteel psychopath is a piece of lemon tea cake she consumes in one delicate bite. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
She's no Mary Poppins: Maggie Smith is more like a cheery Angel of Death in the light black comedy Keeping Mum, one of those dutifully daft British diddles (complete with Rowan Atkinson as a vicar) that, except for the blunt sex talk, might have been constructed decades ago. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The movie is another of those harmless and politely made dark comedies that the English seem incapable of doing without. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Keeping Mum never really gets going, and it inches to the finish line like a narcoleptic turtle. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Moderately amusing. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A British black comedy, saves its best for last -- and God bless Maggie Smith for, well, being Maggie Smith -- but that requires sitting through a frustrating, uneven hour of sluggish preamble. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
The problem with this one may be that it just isn't British enough. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate Taylor
Black comedy often asks viewers, in exchange for the hilarity, to suspend their moral objections along with their disbelief...Here, we keep our part of the bargain only to be cheated of our payoff. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert Abele
Weirdly clueless. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Smith is excellent as the potty Grace, with both Atkinson and Thomas equally fine in their roles. But the fact is plainly seen: The Ealing of yore is gone. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Obvious, simplistic, and never funny, Johnson's movie may be useful only as real estate porn--Cornwall and the Isle of Man never looked so super cute. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Only the architecturally refined bone structure of Kristin Scott Thomas' face rescues Keeping Mum from full-on tedium. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Director Niall Johnson struggles to find the proper tone: the serial murders aren't horrible enough to be funny, and the characters don't respond as if they're horrible at all. As a result the black humor thins into gray fog. Read full review
25
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The movie is a premise in search of a comedy. Rather than flesh it out, the filmmakers put familiar glad rags on the skull and bones. Read full review
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