Featured Audience Ratings

• Bathsheba M

  
  I hope Maggie Smith isn't crestfallen to have me say "wow, I didn't realize she WAS so beautiful," but she was definitely a beauty in this movie. Not that she isn't now, but there are no qualifiers on the younger her. Her acting and sheer presence carried… More
  I hope Maggie Smith isn't crestfallen to have me say "wow, I didn't realize she WAS so beautiful," but she was definitely a beauty in this movie. Not that she isn't now, but there are no qualifiers on the younger her. Her acting and sheer presence carried the movie which was rather ruderless--although I guess we were waiting to see when she would get the az and I loved hearing everyone's Scottish brogues....mai leetle gels. Indeed!

• Jim H

  
  A tyrannical but occasionally charming teacher indoctrinates her students at a boarding school. This is a profoundly interesting film. The educator initially appears to be of the "nurturing love" variety, but as we get to know Jean Brodie, we realize that her support of… More
  A tyrannical but occasionally charming teacher indoctrinates her students at a boarding school. This is a profoundly interesting film. The educator initially appears to be of the "nurturing love" variety, but as we get to know Jean Brodie, we realize that her support of Mussolini and Franco isn't just the absent mutterings of a naive teacher but the cornerstone of her pedagogy. As my colleague explained, after we watch films like <I> Dead Poets Society</i> we think, "If only those stuffy administrators would leave geniuses alone to genius-ify their students ..." But after we watch films like <i>The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie</i>, we think, "For God's sake, don't leave teachers alone with students." Maggie Smith's almost irresistible charm makes our introduction to Brodie smooth, but her phenomenal characterization make Brodie more interesting, more tragic, and more frightening as we get to know her. If ever there was a performance that deserved an Oscar, this is it. The supporting performance by Pamela Franklin as Brodie's one disloyal charge is also excellent, but the supporting work by the male actors leaves something to be desired as they are often stale cliches. Overall, this is a must-see in the genre of educator films, and Maggie Smith makes it quite an enjoyable time.

• Lanning :

  
  It's been many years since I've seen this movie starring Dame Maggie Smith, who won an Oscar for Best Actress in the titular role. I'm reminded once again of how powerful an acting force she is, how amazingly all encompassing and robust she is in delivery, in… More
  It's been many years since I've seen this movie starring Dame Maggie Smith, who won an Oscar for Best Actress in the titular role. I'm reminded once again of how powerful an acting force she is, how amazingly all encompassing and robust she is in delivery, in expression, in gesture. A consummate acting professional is every sense. <p> If you only know Smith from her more recent supporting work in the <i>Harry Potter</i> series, you must seek out some of her earlier work to understand just how stunning a screen presence she is. <p> Here, as the aging, unwed teacher, shaping her students according to her passionately insular mindset, Smith is staggering in her determined, although blinded, pursuit of "true" education. When her high-minded yet sadly naive and idiosyncratic curricular bent leads to a student's unfortunate death, she must face the truth of her shortcomings in a world far more dangerous than she could ever bring herself to realize. Offbeat and perhaps harmful though her life lessons may be, you cannot help but admire Miss Brodie's iron-willed dedication to teaching them, her absolute conviction of the necessity of peculiarly shaping young, susceptible minds, hearts, and spirits. <p>Maggie Smith is a living treasure who must be cherished for every appearance she makes on screen.

• Mark H

  
  Astonishing performance from Maggie Smith highlights this somewhat stuffy character study about a forward thinking schoolteacher who refuses to follow the school's curriculum. Miss Jean Brodie's liberated views of love, politics and art are too much for a conservative… More
  Astonishing performance from Maggie Smith highlights this somewhat stuffy character study about a forward thinking schoolteacher who refuses to follow the school's curriculum. Miss Jean Brodie's liberated views of love, politics and art are too much for a conservative girls' school in 1930s Scotland. Maggie Smith's tour de force performance deservedly won an Oscar for the title role, however actress Pamela Franklin is also memorable as Sandy, the student who becomes her biggest threat.

• Daniel P

  
  A classic of character development - the four girls in this film are outstanding, and so is Robert Stephens. I just wonder how many times Joan Cusack watched this film preparing for School of Rock - Celia Johnson invented the headmistress archetype as we know it.

• Alec B

  
  Its impressive for making Brodie a simultaneously sympathetic and loathsome character (mostly because Maggie Smith nails this performance). The film also successfully doubles as a character study and an examination into fascist indoctrination.

• Marcus W

  
  It's a lot like Mona Lisa Smile; only far better.

• Dimitris S

  
  Funny till you can't stop yelling!No,honestly.Smith tactically reserves the best for the class moments,it's such a sardonic humorous entity,the dramatic influence of this film overshadows the brisk tone.By Jove,Smith IS the film,Neame would have plunged on the depths of… More
  Funny till you can't stop yelling!No,honestly.Smith tactically reserves the best for the class moments,it's such a sardonic humorous entity,the dramatic influence of this film overshadows the brisk tone.By Jove,Smith IS the film,Neame would have plunged on the depths of mediocrity if it weren't for the totalitarian and all the more satanic smiles of Maggie Smith.

• Sunil J

  
  Excellent. Maggie Smith totally earned her Oscar for this.

• David S

  
  A brilliant performance from Maggie Smith makes this a 'must' actors film. A shame she's been stuck with boring eccentric characters since on screen. This is far removed from Harry Potter (although they share the same accent)!

Read all 10 featured audience ratings