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Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, Vanessa Redgrave, Wallace Shawn, Julie Walters ... see more see more... , James Grant , Frances Barber , Lindsay Duncan , Janet Dale , Dave Atkins , Simon Adams , Selina Cadell , David Cardy , Noel Davis , Neil Dudgeon , Richard Ireson , William Job , Karl Johnson , Rosalind Knight , Spencer Leigh , Angus MacKay , Steven Mackintosh , Charles McKowen , Helena Michell , Roger Lloyd Pack , Bert Parnaby , Sean Pertwee , Neville Phillips , Eric Richard , Stevan Rimkus , Joan Sanderson , Neville Smith , Linda Spurrier , Margaret Tyzack , Charlotte Wodehouse , David Bradley , Jonathan Phillips , Stephen Bill , Jane Blackburn , Mark Brignal , Antony Carrick , Joanne Connelly , Moktar Dagmouni , Philippa Davies , Anthony Douse , James Duggan , Christopher Guinee , Robin Hooper , Ahmed El-Jheur , John Kane , Julie Legrand , John Moffatt , Michael Mueller , Stella Richman , John Salthouse , Max Stafford-Clark , Liam Staic , Sian Thomas , Garry Cooper , Richard Wilson

This unadorned biography of playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) charts his bawdy, dangerous relationships. Alfred Molina plays Orton's brutish lover, Kenneth Halliwell, a pathetic figure who becomes ho... read more read more...rrific and then tragic before the film is over. The hilarity of scenes from such Orton plays as Loot and What the Butler Saw is evenly balanced by the bleakness of the playwright's tormented (and tormenting) off-stage existence, which ended suddenly at age 34 with half a dozen blows to the head from a hammer. Prick Up Your Ears is based on the book by theater critic John Lahr, who is played in the film by Wallace Shawn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

76% liked it

4,216 ratings

Critics

92% liked it

25 critics

R, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Stephen Frears

Release Date: May 8, 1987

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DVD Release Date: June 15, 2004

Stats: 194 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (194)

  • gator681
    February 28, 2005
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic][color=darkred]"Revengers Tragedy" is a movie based on the 17th century play by Thomas Middleton. In this version, it is updated to Liverpool in the near future where Vendici(Christopher Eccleston) is returning after a period of absence. He is back to swear... read more vengeance against The Duke(Derek Jacobi, who does not have a lot to do), after he killed Vendici's bride in retaliation for her not wanting to have sex with him.(A good deal of this movie is taken up with men defending the honor of women. I can understand this happening in the 17th century but it's not likely for the present or anytime in the near future.) Other faults include the movie missing chances to have anything to say about 1) the nature of revenge and 2) the class structure.(The Duke is evil but Lord Antonio seems like a pretty alright guy.) But it is imaginatively staged with computer effects and is well acted especially by Christopher Eccleston and Eddie Izzard.[/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=#8b0000][/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=darkslateblue]"Prick Up Your Ears" is based on the lives and tempestual relationship of playwright Joe Orton(Gary Oldman) and Kenneth Halliwell(Alfred Molina). Orton's role in life seemed to be wreaking playful havoc in the straitlaced society of 50's and 60's Britain, from defacing library books to anonymous sex in lavatories. The movie is witty and engaging. It gives great insight into the characters and their love for each other. Both Oldman and Molina do a great job. And it's a joy watching Wallace Shawn and Vanessa Redgrave act together.[/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=darkslateblue][/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=darkslateblue](Very strange literary note: Alfred Molina invokes T.S. Eliot in "Prick Up Your Ears." He would do so again in "Spider Man 2.") [/color][/font]
  • fb20312798
    February 14, 2010
    fb20312798
    I felt the film could have explored more of the brief career of Joe Orton because the film tends to brush over those parts a bit. However the performances of Oldman and Molina are amazing. Its too bad the film was released in 1987, because if it was done now I think the content w... read moreouldn't have made people ignore it.
  • littlecharmer1959
    October 9, 2008
    littlecharmer1959
    Good little film about the life of Joe Orton. Alfred Molina is great as his lover Kenneth Halliwell. Plus an excellent script by Alan Bennet.
  • ghostlytoast
    March 2, 2009
    ghostlytoast
    As a film, it's well structured but a bit flimsily plotted. Reasonably stylish, Gary Oldman is excellent, and Alfred Molina is good and does well with a pretty underwritten and awkwardly motivated character. Gets extra points for hot gay kissing.
  • averysupernaturalchristmas
    January 18, 2009
    averysupernaturalchristmas
    i loved it! not much action, unless you mean guy- to guy action=of which there is alot!!
    Plus gary oldman is the sexiest gay man ever in this movie!!!!!!!!
  • blueowlboy
    June 21, 2007
    blueowlboy
    As it goes on,this movie becomes more and more a Joe Orton story... appropriately! Tender and tragic, it is a tale well told... and Molina is fantastic!
  • cecelia14
    April 7, 2007
    cecelia14
    Gary Oldman at his best, and Alfred Molina is outstanding. A great film about a very interesting guy.
  • belovedsweet
    October 21, 2006
    belovedsweet
    This is one of those great films that you just won't see again because of the movie industry changes since then. If you know what Gary Oldman's true character is like and then see him as Joe Orton, it's amazing. It was said that Orton's agent said that there was no way he could... read more play Orton, until he walked on set in character and she was astounded.

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

Gary Oldman is excellent as Orton, right down to remarkable resemblance, while Alfred Molina creates both an amusing and tormented Halliwell. Vanessa Redgrave takes top honors, though, as a compassion... Full Review

Dave Calhoun
June 24, 2006
Dave Calhoun, Time Out

Oldman is brilliant; Molina's Halliwell less subtle; and the film's dissection of cottaging quaintly amusing. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

The film covers the main events of the Orton life in a manner that is nothing less than distracted. One has little understanding of the fatal intensity - and need - that kept Orton and Halliwell toget... Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The great performances in the movie are, of course, at its center. Gary Oldman plays Orton and Alfred Molina plays Halliwell, and these are two of the best performances of the year. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

The filmmakers have shown great intellectual taste. But it's not the kind of taste that's illuminating. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Like "Casablanca," "Diva," "Clockwork Orange" and countless other quality-cult films, "Prick Up Your Ears" has an indefinable idiosyncrasy that makes you want to come back for more. Full Review

August 20, 2012
Film4

A brilliant and painfully raw portrait of a troubled, a tragic relationship. Full Review

August 20, 2012
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Oldman, fresh from his triumph as Sex Pistol Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy, is the key and holds it all together. Full Review

Matthew Sorrento
November 16, 2009
Matthew Sorrento, PopMatters

Molina stares down all clichés, veering away from effeminate tones when they would be most convenient and avoids trapping Ken into a brooding madman. Full Review

Andrew Pulver
April 7, 2007
Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]

Stands up extraordinarily well: mostly because of two outstanding central performances, Gary Oldman as the talented, blase Orton, and Alfred Molina as his thwarted, Hancock-esque murderer Kenneth Hall... Full Review

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Facts

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    • Joe Orton: I always wanted to be an orphan. I could have, if it wasn't for my parents.
    • Peggy Ramsay: Ken was the first wife. He did all the work and the waiting and then...
    • John Lahr: Well, first wives don't usually beat their husbands' heads in.
    • Peggy Ramsay: No. Though why I can't think.
    • John Lahr: So what does that make you? The second wife?
    • Peggy Ramsay: Better than that, dear. The widow.
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Prick Up Your Ears Trivia

  • Prick Up Your Ears (1987) was the story of the life of which playwright?   Answer »
  • Gary Oldman was in "Prick Up Your Ears".  Answer »
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