Tulip Fever (2017) Reviews

• Ignore the critics and see this movie

  lorenjahns2017-09-03

  I almost skipped seeing this movie because of bad reviews, but I am so glad I went anyway. This is really an excellent film. I cannot see for the life of me what the critics (both professional and ordinary moviegoers like myself) are pissing and moaning about. The story moves along quickly, with lots of fun twists and turns and lots of interesting characters who are established early and then return at surprising moments. Lots of good steamy sex too, so stay away if you don't like that. I read reviews about the weak acting—they are all wrong. Judy Dench totally nails her role. It seems I have to relearn this lesson over and over: IGNORE THE CRITICS!

• If you like period drama, do not listen to the negative critics!

  Karlien19682018-01-16

  I loved it...I really did. It is slow paced, what I absolutely like. The costumes where beautiful and detailed. Also the scenery was well done and gave an atmosphere of how it used to be. Worth watching...not the best...but really enjoyed it!

• Like tulip bulbs, this film needs to be stored in a cool, dry place

  goaltenderinterference2017-09-18

  Tulipmania is one of Europe's weirder historical events. Unfortunately, the movie barely touches on the tulip market craze, except as a deus ex machina to bestow sudden wealth and/or loss on characters who we barely care about and who do nothing to deserve it. The main problem with the film is that the love triangle that is supposed to be the main story appears out of nowhere -- one of the characters simply looks up pensively, as if he just solved a riddle, and declares, "I'm in love!" Up until that point, he had shared maybe 60 seconds of screen time with the object of his affection. How can we care about the contrived swings in fortune of such shallow people? Making things worse, this love triangle movie has five main characters, leading to underdeveloped characters, repetition of ideas and unnecessary subplots. I loved the sets and I thought that Christoph Waltz, Holliday Grainger and Jack O'Connell did great jobs with the little they had to work with.

• There is a reason this has been sitting on the shelf for years

  paul-allaer2017-09-05

  "Tulip Fever" (2017 release from the UK; 107 min.) brings the story of a young Dutch woman's love tribulations. AS the movie opens, we get a quick (animated) introduction how tulips entered into the Low Lands. We then get to know Sophia, an orphan living at the St. Ursula convent in Amsterdam. She is married out to an old guy. We then are informed that it is "Three years later, Amsterdam 1634", and Sophia has not yet been able to provide an heir to her husband Cornelis. At some point Cornelis commissions a portrait from a young up-and-coming painter Jan Van Loos. At this point we're less than 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from British director Justin Chadwick, who previously gave us the Mandela bio-pick "Long Walk to Freedom". Here he brings the best-selling novel of Deborah Moggach to the big screen, and certainly it's not the talent that is lacking: Alicia Vikander! (as Sophia); Christoph Waltz! (as her husband); Judi Dench! (as the abbess of St. Ursula); Dane DeHaan! (as the painter). Alas, the script is nothing short of horrible. The "love tribulations" left me completely unmoved. The way the "tulip fever" (which actually did happen in real life) is worked into the plot makes no sense at all. Worst of all, the way the scenes plays out, one has the impression that Amsterdam was the most people-congested place on earth, and literally in a party mode all the time. Bottom line: this film was shot in 2014 and a teaser was shown at the 2015 Cannes film festival. Since then, 2 1/2 years ago, the film has been gathering dust on a shelf while the movie makers desperately tried to salvage it by recutting it. They should've simply let this one die on the vine, as it easily is one of the worst movies I have seen this year (and I see a lot of movies). "Tulip Fever" finally was recently released, and I happen to catch it during a recent family visit to Belgium. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at in Antwerp was attended poorly (6 people, including myself). Given the dismal reception this movie has gotten, I cannot see this playing long in the theater. If you wish to watch this movie (say, because Alicia Vikander is in it--reason I wanted to see it). do so at your own peril, and don't say afterwards that I didn't warn you! I cannot recommend this film in good conscience to anyone, sorry.

• It was sublime

  eliahgolan2017-11-25

  I loved it. After reading the reviews of other users, I had no expectations from the movie. But, I was very surprised after I finished watching the film that I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot itself is very intriguing and forces the viewer to enter a game of guesses and speculations on what will the characters dare to do next. It's a wonderfully playful and thrilling love story that I would recommend everyone to go and watch.