Lord Jim (2001)
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54% of critics liked it
(13 reviews) -
52% of users liked it
(1,732 ratings)
Joseph Conrad's cerebral, philosophical novel Lord Jim is streamlined and simplified by producer/director/writer Richard Brooks for the action-and-adventure crowd. Peter O'Toole plays the first officer of a tramp steamer, who, during a hurricane, cravenly abandons ship, leaving the… More Joseph Conrad's cerebral, philosophical novel Lord Jim is streamlined and simplified by producer/director/writer Richard Brooks for the action-and-adventure crowd. Peter O'Toole plays the first officer of a tramp steamer, who, during a hurricane, cravenly abandons ship, leaving the passengers to drown. Disgraced, O'Toole seeks out ways to redeem himself--not only in the eyes of the British maritime commission, but in his own eyes. He signs on to deliver a shipment of dynamite to a tribe of natives somewhere in the uncharted Orient. He also joins the natives' fight against feudal warlord Eli Wallach, hoping perhaps to die in their service, thus purging himself from shame (and, in true Messianic fashion, becoming a martyr in the process). Despite the impressive star lineup of O'Toole, Wallach, Jack Hawkins, Curt Jurgens and Paul Lukas, most press coverage went to leggy leading lady Daliah Lavi--including the 1964 Saturday Evening Post article about the making of Lord Jim, written by Richard Brooks himself. Filmed in Cambodia and Hong Kong, Lord Jim isn't precisely the Conrad novel, but fans weaned on O'Toole's Lawrence of Arabia will be satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Richard Brooks, Richard Brooks (VI)
- Written By
- Joseph Conrad, Richard Brooks
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 2001 Wide
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Brooks, while capturing the spirit of adventure of the novel, only superficially catches the inner emotional and spiritual conflict of its hero.
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, Time Out
Brooks' adaptation of Conrad's novel is immeasurably better than its reputation.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Something bewildering has happened in Richard Brooks's making of it, and it misses at being either Conrad or sheer entertainment cinema.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Joseph Conrad's elaborately structured fiction poses monstrous problems for film adaptation, and the solution proposed here by Richard Brooks -- plodding literal-mindedness -- doesn't come close to working.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
At best, it only resembles Conrad's 1900 novel.
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Cast
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Peter O'Toole
as Lord Jim
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James Mason
as Gentleman Brown
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Curd Jürgens
as Cornelius
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Jack Hawkins
as Marlow
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Eli Wallach
as General
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Paul Lukas
as Stein
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Daliah Lavi
as The Girl
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Akim Tamiroff
as Schomberg
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Ichizo Itami
as Waris
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Tatsuo Saito
as Chief Du-Ramin
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Andrew Keir
as Brierly
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Jack MacGowran
as Robinson
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Eric Young
as Malay
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Noel Purcell
as Capt. Chester
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Walter Gotell
as Captain of the SS Patna
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Rafiq Anwar
as Moslem Leader
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Marne Maitland
as Fider
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Newton Blick
as Doctor
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A.J. Brown
as Magistrate
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Christian Marquand
as French Officer
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Serge Reggiani
as French Lieutenant
- Curt Jurgens
- Tatsu Saito
