Prick Up Your Ears

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Prick Up Your Ears

R,

1987,

1h 48m,

Biography/

LGBTQ+

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Watchlist

92%

39 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

39 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

The life and tragic death of British playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) is chronicled in this biographical film. When the young, attractive Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina) at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

Henry Sheehan

Chicago Reader

May 9, 2022

3/4

To reconstruct private lives when documentation gives out is an act of imagination, and that is what the film Prick Up Your Ears is all about.

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Harper Barnes

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Apr 21, 2022

You don't get much sense of what the artist's work is all about. But Prick Up Your Ears has the energy mostly to overcome this flaw.

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Catherine Drake

Little White Lies

Jan 15, 2019

Molina is superb as Halliwell, managing to not only depict a man gradually unravelling from intelligent and dignified to frenzied and paranoid but to cast him in a sympathetic light.

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Quentin Crisp

Christopher Street

May 7, 2024

What the film lacks is unity and a gradual quickening of pace. Although we know from the stunning beginning what the climax will be, we do not feel that we are being drawn relentlessly toward it.

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Michael Bronski

Gay Community News (Boston)

Sep 19, 2022

Prick Up Your Ears feels not like a treat, but a solid, fulfilling experience that comes to audiences very infrequently.

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Jas Keimig

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Jan 5, 2022

What fascinated me about the film was its portrayal of the deep and unnerving intimacy between the men.

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Stephen Frears

Director

Gary Oldman

Joe Orton

Alfred Molina

Kenneth Halliwell

Vanessa Redgrave

Peggy Ramsay

Wallace Shawn

John Lahr

Julie Walters

Elsie Orton

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Synopsis

The life and tragic death of British playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) is chronicled in this biographical film. When the young, attractive Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina) at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

Director: Stephen Frears
Producer: Andrew Brown
Screenwriter: Alan Bennett, John Lahr
Production Co: Civilland, Zenith Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Biography, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 2, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.6M
Runtime: 1h 48m
Sound Mix: Mono

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