Tom & Viv (1994)
Tom & Viv Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Tom Eliot
as Vivienne Haigh-Wood
as Rose Haigh-Wood
as Maurice Haigh-Wood
as Bertrand Russell
as Charles Haigh-Wood
as Harwent
as Louise Purdon
as Virginia Woolf
as Bishop of Oxford
as Sir Frederick Lamb
as W.I. James
as W.I. Janes
as Secretary
as Edith Sitwell
as Ottoline
as Verger
as Woman
as Man No. 1
as Man No. 2
as Dr. Cyriax
as Captain Todd
as Telegraph Boy
as Dr. Reginald Miller
as Curate
as Concierge
as Mr. Davis
as Porter
as Nurse
as Young Man
Critic Reviews for Tom & Viv
All Critics (13) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (9)
An amount of telescoping is inevitable in a story which spans 32 years, but you are left with the feeling that the film has cunningly leapfrogged over key events you would have liked to see.
Miranda Richardson gives a distinguished, Oscar-nominated performance as poet T.S. Eliot's first, troubled wife in this disappointing and superficial biopic.
An uninvolving, pretentious bore.
Audience Reviews for Tom & Viv
Sometimes biopics get lost and this is another prime example of one. Eliot's charm on the page is not translated into an interesting character despite the best efforts of Dafoe.
Super Reviewer
This is a biopic of the life of poet T.S. Eliot (Tom) and Vivian Haigh-Wood, and their lives together. There are just so many things that deter excitement when it comes to this film, though their real relationship was rather bitter and caustic, which usually makes for decent biopics. The events of their lives have been analyzed by countless historians and there are two conflicting stories: one that Haigh-Wood was mentally insane and was sent away to an institution, which has been pretty accepted throughout time, and two, that Haigh-Wood was made insane by a misdiagnosis and sentenced to an asylum for the rest of her life, imprisoned by her husband and to a lesser extent by her brother. The latter is the now proven truth, and makes up the film's structure. Now, watching the actual film, you are not given that impression, because Eliot seems to be sympathized with. Throughout the film we see Haigh-Wood's declining health, her errant behavior, loud outbursts and crude language and actions. Eliot is shown to be soft spoken, reserved, and inclined to finally be part of the literary community, while Haigh-Wood is raucous and seems to be trying to oust her husband. She is supposed to be a free spirit, but that's not how it comes across. Eliot obviously wants to be respected with his poetry, and though he is shown to go to extreme lengths to do it, he doesn't tell Vivian to shut up, to take more medication, or threatens her in any way. The film shows that he plots to stick her away, and freezes her assets, making her a prisoner. This seems strange since he could have just divorced her, and though this may be the truth, it's not presented very clearly. A lot of stuff gets muddled in translation and then it ends abruptly. Even if it were truthful, it wouldn't make any sense, between the subdued murmur of Willem Dafoe and the shrill yells of Miranda Richardson.
Super Reviewer
An great film. An amazing cast. A tragic love story.
Super Reviewer
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