Blow Dry (2000)
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19% of critics liked it
(64 reviews) -
52% of users liked it
(10,054 ratings)
When the tiny burgh of Keighley lands the rights to host the annual British hairdressing championships, practically every city in the United Kingdom is represented in the competition -- except Keighley itself. It seems the event is team-oriented, and the only suitable local contestants had a huge… More When the tiny burgh of Keighley lands the rights to host the annual British hairdressing championships, practically every city in the United Kingdom is represented in the competition -- except Keighley itself. It seems the event is team-oriented, and the only suitable local contestants had a huge falling out a decade ago. For Brian (Josh Hartnett), the son of two hairdressers, that falling out had personal consequences: His mother Shelley (Natasha Richardson) left his father Phil (Alan Rickman) to take up with Phil's hair model Sandra (Rachel Griffiths). Since then, former styling champ Phil has settled for training Brian to help run his lowly barber shop, while Shelley and Sandra have opened a salon of their own. But when Shelley learns that she has terminal cancer, she reaches out to her family in hopes that a reunion for the hairdressing contest might help them all find some sense of closure. To complicate matters, Phil's old arch-nemesis, Ray (Bill Nighy), is now a two-time champ looking for a three-peat, and he's brought along his beautiful American daughter Christina (Rachael Leigh Cook) to work on his team. Blow Dry also marks the screen debut of supermodel Heidi Klum. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Directed By
- Paddy Breathnach
- Written By
- Simon Beaufoy
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
R,
- In Theaters
- Mar 7, 2001 Wide
- Studio
- Miramax Films
Critic Reviews
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Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
The script by Simon Beaufoy of The Full Monty fame is far more soapy than bubbly as it concentrates on extended family entanglements and allows its comic potential to be bleached out by a ponderous mawkish streak.
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A.O. Scott, New York Times
Blow Dry seems both overplotted and underimagined.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Blow Dry is enjoyable in a low-key way, but it's far from an unqualified hit, and lacks the infectious energy of Beaufoy's earlier effort.
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Paul Tatara, CNN.com
A tedious comedy.
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Jay Carr, Boston Globe
What Blow Dry needs, though, is less connect-the-dots and a little more of the waywardness that Warren Clarke's mayor-turned-emcee manages to wring from his limited assignment.
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Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Alan Rickman
as Phil
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Natasha Richardson
as Shelley
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Rachel Griffiths
as Sandra
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Rachael Leigh Cook
as Christina
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Josh Hartnett
as Brian
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Bill Nighy
as Ray
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Warren Clarke
as Tony
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Rosemary Harris
as Daisy
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Hugh Bonneville
as Louis
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Heidi Klum
as Jasmine
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Peter McDonald
as Vincent
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Michael McElhatton
as Robert
