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.
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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Fantasy · Adventure · Drama · 2023
A rich man learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes. He sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling.
Movie details
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
2023 Fantasy · Adventure · Drama 39m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.3 / 10
Community rating
A rich man learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes. He sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling.
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 Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
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.
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Moby Dick
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In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.
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The world is a mysterious place when seen through the eyes of an animal. EO, a grey donkey with melancholic eyes, meets good and bad people on his life’s path, experiences joy and pain, endures the wheel of fortune randomly turn his luck into disaster and his despair into unexpected bliss. But not even for a moment does he lose his innocence.
White Hunter, Black Heart
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Renowned filmmaker John Wilson travels to Africa to direct a new movie, but constantly leaves to hunt elephants and other game, to the dismay of his cast and crew. He eventually becomes obsessed with hunting down and killing one specific elephant.
FX's A Christmas Carol
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London, 1843. Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter old man, despises the Christmas holiday. Over the course of Christmas Eve night he is visited by three ghosts to show him his past, present and future.
Orlando
Drama · 1992
England, 1600. Queen Elizabeth I promises Orlando, a young nobleman obsessed with poetry, that she will grant him land and fortune if he agrees to satisfy a very particular request.
The Good Witch's Destiny
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As Cassie's birthday approaches, Lori discovers disturbing parallels between Cassie and her great aunt, who disappeared years before on her birthday. When signs of a curse appear, Cassie conjures up a little magic to make things right again.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Wes Anderson
Written by
Wes Anderson
Ralph Fiennes
Roald Dahl / Policeman
Benedict Cumberbatch
Henry Sugar / Make-Up Artist
Dev Patel
Dr. Chatterjee / John Winston
Ben Kingsley
Imdad Khan / Croupier
Richard Ayoade
Dr. Marshall / Yogi
Jarvis Cocker
Canasta Player / Manor Guest / Friend of Henry Sugar / Casino Entrance Man
R
Rebecca Cornford
Canasta Player / Manor Guest / Friend of Henry Sugar / Casino Guest / Hospital Nurse
Court is in session
Put The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.