Relative Values

2000 1h 27m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 47

ComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A comedy of discriminating taste and dirty little secrets. In 1952 England, Nigel, the Earl of Marshwood, woos Hollywood star Miranda, upsetting both Nigel's mother, Countess Felicity, and Miranda's former love fellow Hollywood star Don. Right before the engagement party at Marshwood, Moxie, the Countess's personal maid and best friend, reveals that Miranda is her estranged sister. Crestwell, the Countess's butler, devises a plan - but an inebriated Don's arrival at Marshwood to talk to Miranda causes all chaos to break loose.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Julie Andrews
Felicity Marshwood
Edward Atterton
Nigel Marshwood
William Baldwin
Don Lucas
Colin Firth
Peter Ingleton
Stephen Fry
Frederick Crestwell
Sophie Thompson
Dora Moxton 'Moxie'
Jeanne Tripplehorn
Miranda Frayle / Freda Birch
Stephanie Beacham
Elizabeth

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Eric Styles
Writers: Noël Coward, Paul Rattigan, Noël Coward
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

87 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Eric Styles, shot by Jimmy Dibling. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Debney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Caroline Limmer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Julie Andrews and Edward Atterton and William Baldwin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0210943 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 47 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Eric Styles directs. Jimmy Dibling behind the camera. John Debney scores. Caroline Limmer cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
226 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Eric Styles, shot by Jimmy Dibling. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by John Debney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Caroline Limmer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Julie Andrews and Edward Atterton and William Baldwin carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0210943 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 47 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jimmy Dibling
Original score: John Debney
Editing: Caroline Limmer
Production design: Humphrey Jaeger
Costume design: Nic Ede
Makeup / hair: Sarah Astley
Runtime: 87 min · 1h 27m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Relative Values (2000)

Also by

Eric Styles

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-11-19
★ 6/10
This probably isn't one of Noël Coward's better plays for me, but Eric Styles has managed to assemble a solid cast to make this adaptation just about watchable. Edward Atterton (Lord Marshwood) has fallen for Hollywood star "Miranda" (Jeanne Tripplehorn) who is, in turn, on the rebound from a relationship with her on-screen partner "Lucas" (William Baldwin). After their whirlwind romance on the Côte d'Azur they plan to return to his stately pile where his dowager countess mother "Felicity" (Dame Julie Andrews) is waiting to greet them. Now this woman is rather shrewd and egged on by her mischievous nephew "Peter" (Colin Firth) decides to let matters take their course... That plan is rather spiked by a surprise announcement from her long-term confidante "Moxie" (Sophie Thompson) that, coupled with the pursuing "Lucas", creates the template for quite an engaging, if one-dimensional, theatrical farce. Nobody is really challenged here, the plot delivers competent efforts from both cast and screenplay along lines that don't really provide much humour or originality, and that concludes very much as you might expect. It's well photographed (though not very well edited) and Dame Julie brings that certain star quality that we seldom see nowadays. I would probably have left this to the stage where I expect it would have worked better - on the silver screen it falls a bit flat.

Production companies