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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
17
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
iDec 3, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Some of the script was a little clunky – Fanny’s status as an outsider was rather overdone – and there were signs that the characters had been given an unnecessary feminist makeover (Fanny lectured Linda about female ambition). But when something is such extraordinarily good fun, it feels churlish to nitpick too much.
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Aug 10, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Scott is a joy to watch; he is consistently, convincingly vivacious—the embodiment of Mitford charm. ... This is a period drama that makes fun of its period’s stuffiness, playing on its stilted conventions. ... The adaptation is also funny, and not shy, on certain unflattering truths regarding motherhood.
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Aug 2, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Without sacrificing humor or social commentary, Mortimer thrillingly modernizes The Pursuit of Love by ratcheting up the romance in unexpected ways. ... This new lens hardly detracts from Linda’s magnificent saga. In fact, viewing her through Fanny’s adoring eyes only enhances its colors.
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Jul 28, 2021
Season 1 Review:
[Emily Mortimer] has crafted a story that feels simultaneously true to its period and modern, with life and energy exploding off the frame. Between her use of contemporary music (soundtrack cuts include Cat Power, Sleater-Kinney, and Marianne Faithfull, among many others), lovingly detailed tableau shots, and strategically deployed chyrons, Pursuit at times feels like what you would get if you hired Wes Anderson to make a Masterpiece Theatre.
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The TimesMay 11, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Mitford purists may take issue with Mortimer's contemporary touches and some might say it is often too mannered and arch, making the characters superficial. But The Pursuit of Love is glorious Sunday evening fayre and, in following Mitford's lead in "avoiding earnestness at all costs", Mortimer has definitely succeeded.
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The IndependentMay 10, 2021
Season 1 Review:
James relaxes more into her role than she did on her last outing, as a lovestruck archaeologist in The Dig. Fox has a ball in a part he was born to play. ... This adaptation, for all its technical proficiency, crisp one-liners and confident performances, sometimes feels a little chilly.
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Jul 29, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Though both of the heroines of “Pursuit” are constrained by the gender expectations of their era, Mortimer and company make judicious feminist points from today’s perspective. For the most part they do so without hitting the nail so squarely it breaks the period atmosphere — which is exquisite, by the way.
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Jul 29, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The Pursuit of Love has a narrative choppiness that often captures the series’ jaunty spirit, but just as often left me challenged to fully invest in some of the key relationships. ... This costs the series some of the gravity it clearly wants to have in its last hour, though it’s completely possible that in the editing room there was a recognition that The Pursuit of Love works better as a rollicking comedy, which is fair and points to how solidly Mortimer has the cast on a common page.
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RogerEbert.comJul 29, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Does “The Pursuit of Love” say anything particularly insightful about womanhood, or about middle-century femininity as domestic ennui, or about the relationship between the arts and self-fulfillment? It hints at these ideas without digging in thoroughly or meaningfully, and its ending is infuriatingly punishing. But the miniseries’ breezy pace, likeable ensemble, and low-key twee style make “The Pursuit of Love” easy to fall into, even with the sense that its satire could have been spikier.
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The TelegraphMay 10, 2021
Season 1 Review:
It is enjoyable, and the first episode is quite the best. ... Andrew Scott gives such a witty performance as Merlin, the Radletts' bohemian neighbour, that the scenes which don’t feature him are just marking time between the ones that do. Therein lies one of the problems with this adaptation, which is the directorial debut of Emily Mortimer.
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The PlaylistJul 27, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Although we see how even upper-crust girls were stuck in gilt cages, the story never quite addresses this classicism and its characters’ privilege in a way that grocks with the contemporary feminist movement. So while the show is beautifully made, its message feels a few decades too late.
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Jul 29, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Mortimer generally follows the novel’s plot and incorporates a lot of its words directly into Fanny’s narration, and her “Pursuit of Love” is better the closer it sticks to the book. Unfortunately, when she strays from it, expanding on Mitford’s story, she has mostly bad ideas.
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