Swinging with the Finkels
| Swinging with the Finkels | |
|---|---|
 U.K. Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jonathan Newman |
| Screenplay by | Jonathan Newman |
| Produced by | Thomas Augsberger David Mutch Deepak Nayar Philip von Alvensleben |
| Starring | Mandy Moore Martin Freeman Melissa George |
| Cinematography | Dirk Nel |
| Edited by | Eddie Hamilton |
| Music by | Mark Thomas |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Moving Pictures Film and Television (United States) Freestyle Releasing (U.S.) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Swinging with the Finkels is a 2011 British comedy film directed by Jonathan Newman and starring Mandy Moore, Martin Freeman and Melissa George. The screenplay concerns a wealthy London who couple decide to take up "swinging" (as in "partner swapping") in an attempt to save their struggling marriage.[1][2] The film was picked up by Freestyle Releasing and had a limited release date in the United States on 26 August 2011.[3]
Cast
- Martin Freeman as Alvin Finkel
- Mandy Moore as Ellie Finkel
- Melissa George as Janet
- Jonathan Silverman as Peter
- Richard Shelton as Trevor (original)
- Jerry Stiller as Mr. Winters
- Angus Deayton as Richard
- Edward Akrout as Andrew
- John Barrard as Old Man
Reception
Critics mostly focused on its crude, stale humour, one-dimensional characters, and portrayal of marriage. It currently holds a 0% 'rotten' critical score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 19 reviews, and a 20% audience score based on 899 reviews (as of September 2015), together indicating generally negative reviews. It is not listed on Metacritic.
It has been described as 'a contempo contribution to the august British tradition of lame, unfunny sex comedies' by Leslie Felperin of Variety, 'occasionally loathsome' by Brian Orndorf of BrianOrndorf.com, 'excruciatingly wrongheaded and outdated' by Mary Ann Johanson of Flick Filosopher and 'a bit crude for its own good' by Blake French of Filmcritic.com.
Xan Brooks of The Guardian wrote 'short of having a urethral swab or inserting a cucumber up yourself, it's hard to imagine a more queasy form of torture than this dismal British sex comedy - about a man who has a urethral swab and a woman who inserts a cucumber up herself' and Peter Sobczynski of eFilmCritic.com wrote 'Imagine the world's longest, lamest and smuttiest episode of the redoubtable TV classic "Love, American Style" and you have only begun to conceptualize the mind and genital-numbing horror that is Swinging with the Finkels'.
In a more positive review, Mike McGranaghan of Aisle Seat wrote 'I'm right down the middle on this one. It's not great, but it's not terrible either'.
References
- ^ "Swinging With The Finkels is a mediocre screenplay". ThisIsLondon.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ "Swinging with the Finkels". IrishTimes.com. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ http://www.dvdtown.com/news/swinging-with-the-finkels-opens-friday-in-florida-and-california/9034
External links
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