Tea with Mussolini

Name: Tea with Mussolini
Genre: Drama, Comedy, War
Released: May 14, 1999
Duration: 117 min
Rating: 53
Cast: Cher, Joan Plowright, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith

1999

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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Tea With Mussolini

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Movie Details & Credits

G2 Films | Release Date: May 14, 1999 | PG

Starring: Cher, Joan Plowright, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith

Summary: A coming-of-age tale about an illegitimate child who struggles to assert his independence and find his way into a life of art, taken from the autobiography of Franco Zeffirelli. (MGM)

Director: Franco Zeffirelli

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, War

Rating: PG

Runtime: 117 min

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Critic Reviews

F. X. Feeney

This gets my vote as director Franco Zeffirelli’s finest film. Certainly, it’s his most personal. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

It's warm, spontaneous and heartfelt. Zeffirelli cared about his memories, and he's done justice to them. Read full review

Roger Ebert

The movie seemed the stuff of anecdote, not drama, and as the alleged protagonist, Luca/Franco is too young much of the time to play more than a bystander's role. Read full review

Stephen Holden

Once you accept the notion that Tea With Mussolini aspires to be little more than a kind of British-Italian ''Steel Magnolias,'' with a patina of World War II-movie uplift, it becomes a pleasure to watch its stars shamelessly hamming it up. Read full review

Ted Gideonse

These actresses are always worth seeing in just about anything, as is Tuscany. Together they are able to make up for the meandering plot and lack of dramatic oomph. Read full review

Justine Elias

Luca's transformation from waif to budding artist may be the thrust of the film, but it's the psyche of the conflicted grandson that you wonder about. Read full review

Steve Davis

Franco Zeffirelli's contrived autobiographical film about his youth in fascist Italy has little social grace -- it's embarrassingly awkward, like a dilettante playing the doyenne. Read full review

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User Reviews

TonyB.

Nov 25, 2005

This is among the more underrated and under appreciated films in recent memory.

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DawdlingPoet

Nov 25, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This film features a solid cast, some amusing witty comments and its a pretty pleasant watch, although the plot pace is a bit slow at the start and it may bore some I suppose. Its undoubtedly the performances that make this film work as well as it does. It has a definite sense of 'the British stiff upper lip' about it, its fair to say and I found it interesting to see how the somewhat upper class Brits handled finding themselves in a foreign country now a part of such a large scale war. However, I admit that I did find Cher's character rather irritating (as did others in the film - the loud, pompous/extroverted American doesn't go down entirely well among others).… Expand

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mepitts

Jun 8, 2013

Well--wonderful scenes of Florence, the Uffizi Gallery and the Tuscan countryside; well-produced regarding an interesting period in Italian history and with an amazing group of actors.

That said (and apologies for seeming so grumpy, but really disappointed with a movie that seemed to haveWell--wonderful scenes of Florence, the Uffizi Gallery and the Tuscan countryside; well-produced regarding an interesting period in Italian history and with an amazing group of actors.

That said (and apologies for seeming so grumpy, but really disappointed with a movie that seemed to have such promise): poorly written, poorly acted and poorly directed, self-indulgent and really a caricature of the high quality repertory productions in which we're used to seeing Judy Dench and Maggie Smith. The Judy Dench character had some subtlety, but the Maggie Smith character was embarrassingly broadly written, directed (I'm guessing) and acted. If you want to see scenes of pre--WWII Florence, I'd strongly suggest "Room With a View" over this movie. Not recommended.… Expand

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