The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
The Ruling Class
Comedy · Drama · 1972
When the Earl of Gurney dies in a cross-dressing accident, his schizophrenic son, Jack, inherits the Gurney estate. Jack is not the average nobleman; he sings and dances across the estate and thinks he is Jesus reincarnated. Believing that Jack is mentally unfit to own the estate, the Gurney family plots to steal Jack's inheritance. As their outrageous schemes fail, the family strives to cure Jack of his bizarre behavior, with disastrous results.
Movie details
The Ruling Class
1972 Comedy · Drama 2h 34m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.4 / 10
Community rating
When the Earl of Gurney dies in a cross-dressing accident, his schizophrenic son, Jack, inherits the Gurney estate. Jack is not the average nobleman; he sings and dances across the estate and thinks he is Jesus reincarnated. Believing that Jack is mentally unfit to own the estate, the Gurney family plots to steal Jack's inheritance. As their outrageous schemes fail, the family strives to cure Jack of his bizarre behavior, with disastrous results.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Ruling Class?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Don't Think Twice
Comedy · 2016
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
SubUrbia
Comedy · 1997
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
My Own Love Song
Comedy · 2010
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
A Dog Year
Comedy · 2009
Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?
Wild Oats
Comedy · 2016
Everything changes for Eva when she receives an insurance settlement check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000. She and her best friend take the money and head out for the adventure of a lifetime.
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Comedy · 2002
In a sleepy Louisiana parish, a group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated mother and let go of her painful past.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Comedy · 1991
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, minor characters from the play 'Hamlet', find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. The duo encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence.
Benny & Joon
Comedy · 1993
A mentally ill young woman finds love with an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.
Carnage
Comedy · 2011
Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.
Better Living Through Chemistry
Drama · 2014
A straight-laced pharmacist's uneventful life spirals out of control when he starts an affair with a trophy wife customer who takes him on a joyride involving sex, drugs and possibly murder.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Peter Medak
Written by
Peter Barnes
Peter O'Toole
Jack 14th Earl of Gurney
Alastair Sim
Bishop Lampton
Arthur Lowe
Tucker
Harry Andrews
13th Earl of Gurney
Coral Browne
Lady Claire Gurney
Michael Bryant
Dr. Herder
Nigel Green
McKyle
Court is in session
Put The Ruling Class on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.