Prick Up Your Ears
Prick Up Your Ears

Watch Prick Up Your Ears Online Free

- 71/100 based on 6,402 votes
  • Released: 1987
  • Runtime: 111 mins
  • Director:
  • Studio: Zenith Entertainment
  • Genres: Drama

This movie is the story of the spectacular life and violent death of British playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman). In his teens, Orton is befriended by the older, more reserved Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina), and while the two begin a relationship, it's fairly obvious that it's not all about sex. Orton loves the dangers of bath-houses and liaisons in public restrooms; Halliwell, not as charming or attractive as Orton, doesn't fare so well in those environments. While both lo... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Prick Up Your Ears:

Gary Oldman
Alfred Molina
Vanessa Redgrave
Wallace Shawn
Lindsay Duncan
Julie Walters

Full Plot Details

This movie is the story of the spectacular life and violent death of British playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman). In his teens, Orton is befriended by the older, more reserved Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina), and while the two begin a relationship, it's fairly obvious that it's not all about sex. Orton loves the dangers of bath-houses and liaisons in public restrooms; Halliwell, not as charming or attractive as Orton, doesn't fare so well in those environments. While both long to become writers, it is Orton who achieves fame. His plays "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" and "Loot" become huge hits in London of the sixties, and he's even commissioned to write a screenplay for the Beatles. But Orton's success takes him farther from Halliwell, whose response ended both his life and the life of the up-and-coming playwright.

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Movie Reviews

Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) - 10/10 by Jonathan R. PerryOn one level a searing bio of Britain's most gifted playwright; on another, a harrowing portrait of fatal jealousy and love gone bad. Alfred Molina is mesmerizing.
Guardian - 10/10 by Peter BradshawGary Oldman’s superb livewire performance is now virtually an authentic testament of the man himself. Alfred Molina’s morose, self-hating Halliwell is also utterly convincing: Bennett’s script cleverly conveys their long years of bickering domesticity.
Chicago Sun-Times - 10/10 by Roger EbertThe great performances in the movie are, of course, at its center. Gary Oldman plays Orton and Alfred Molina plays Halliwell, and these are two of the best performances of the year.
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) - 10/10 by Ken HankeGood, but never quite great biopic of Joe Orton
Gay City News - 8/10 by Gary M. Kramer"Prick Up Your Ears" may shock less than viewers might expect given the gruesome facts of the story, but the film's extraordinary writing, directing, and acting still hold up 30 years later.
Washington Post - 8/10 by Desson ThomsonLike Casablanca, Diva, Clockwork Orange and countless other quality-cult films, Prick Up Your Ears has an indefinable idiosyncrasy that makes you want to come back for more.
rec.arts.movies.reviews - 8/10 by Mark R. LeeperThis is a solid dramatic film and one of the year's best.
Village Voice - 8/10 by Melissa AndersonAs a portrait of a relationship and a creative partnership, Prick is ever alert to the shifts in power, to the narcissistic wounds that can never be salved when a teacher is surpassed by his pupil.
Washington Post - 8/10 by Hal HinsonThe movie is a joyless, inconclusive affair. By not making Orton either a homosexual hero or a working-class hero, avenues that were both open to them and that lesser minds might have traveled down, the filmmakers have shown great intellectual taste. But it's not the kind of taste that's illuminating. Ultimately, they seem not to have known exactly what to make of their subject.
Variety - 8/10 by Variety StaffGary Oldman is excellent as Orton, right down to remarkable resemblance, while Alfred Molina creates both an amusing and tormented Halliwell. Vanessa Redgrave takes top honors, though, as a compassionate and benign agent.

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