
Walter Goodfellow (Rowan Atkinson), the vicar for the small English country parish of Little Wallop, has let his marriage to Gloria (Kristin Scott Thomas) go stale, and he is so detached from his family that he has not taken notice that his seventeen-year-old daughter Holly (Tamsin Egerton) is going through a succession of relationships with unsuitable boyfriends, and his son Petey (Toby Parkes) fears going to school, owing to being bullied. Out of desperation for affection, ... (Full plot summary below)
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Walter Goodfellow (Rowan Atkinson), the vicar for the small English country parish of Little Wallop, has let his marriage to Gloria (Kristin Scott Thomas) go stale, and he is so detached from his family that he has not taken notice that his seventeen-year-old daughter Holly (Tamsin Egerton) is going through a succession of relationships with unsuitable boyfriends, and his son Petey (Toby Parkes) fears going to school, owing to being bullied. Out of desperation for affection, Gloria begins to fall for the advances of Lance (Patrick Swayze), an American golf pro who is giving her "private" lessons. The problems upsetting the family start to fade away after Grace Hawkins (Dame Maggie Smith), the new housekeeper, arrives and starts tending to matters as an older, and rather darkly mysterious version of Mary Poppins (1964).
Leave your thoughts about Keeping Mum.
| Three Movie BuffsScott Nash...Features a great cast and a witty script that should help it appeal to even those who aren't as enamored of British films as I am. |
| Laramie Movie ScopeRobert RotenIt has all the edge, darkness and wit one expects from the storied genre of British dark comedy. |
| New York ObserverRex ReedDirector Niall Johnson and his co-writer, Richard Russo, have shrewd eyes for quaint British mannerisms and keen ears for the eddies of their curious speech patterns. |
| ColeSmithey.comCole SmitheyRowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean") plays straight-man Reverend Walter Goodfellow to Grace Hawkins (acted with keen wit by Maggie Smith) his genteel serial-killer housekeeper in this delicious British black comedy. |
| VarietyDerek ElleyRather dark, decidedly English and exceedingly well played, Keeping Mum is a neatly crafted black comedy with more than a nod in tone toward the Ealing classic "The Ladykillers." |
| Seattle TimesMoira MacDonaldThose fond of films set in quaint, remote British towns (this one's named Little Wallup), or really any film in which the divine Smith purses her lips, will find much to enjoy here. |
| Creative LoafingMatt BrunsonMary Poppins commits murder most foul in this slight but worthwhile comedy that proudly displays its droll British humor at every turn. |
| Capital Times (Madison, WI)Rob ThomasI'll match Grace's way with a meat cleaver and a shovel against Mary's spoonful of sugar every time. |
| TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghDirector and cowriter Niall Johnson's black comedy falters at the end, but until then it manages to wring gentle humor from murder most well bred. |
| New York Daily NewsJack MathewsA giddy black comedy about a homicidal housekeeper in rural England, is a hilarious reminder of that 1944 Frank Capra classic about two old maids whose cellar is cluttered with the bodies of would-be suitors. |