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Albert Nobbs

Release Date 27 Apr 2012 TBA

  • User rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
  • Critic rating
  • Currently 2/5 Stars.

  80% of raters want to see this movie

Certificate:

Genre: Drama

Nominated for 3 Academy Awards and starring Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs tells the story of a young impoverished British girl who made a radical decision to masquerade as a man to ensure her survival in 19th century Ireland.

Cast:
Mia Wasikowska | Glenn Close | Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Aaron Johnson | Brendan Gleeson | Janet McTeer

Writers:
Glenn Close | John Banville

Producers:

Directors:
Rodrigo García

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  • Critic rating
  • Currently 2/5 Stars.

Movies.ie Critic Review

ALBERT NOBBS (UK/Ireland/15A/113mins)

Directed by Rodrigo Garcia. Starring Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Brendan Gleeson, Janet McAteer, Pauline Collins, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Mark Williams, Phyllida Law, Michael McElhatton.

THE PLOT: Dublin, the late 19th century, and well-regarded hotel waiter Albert Nobbs (Close) is really a woman in disguise. It’s a secret that’s almost rumbled when Albert is forced to share a room with a Mr. Page (McAteer) – who, as luck would have it, turns out to be a woman in disguise too. Realising Mr. Page has a wife at home, Albert sets out to find a woman too, settling on young maid Helen (Wasikowska) – whose rough boyfriend Joe (Johnson) advices her to milk her elderly suited for every penny she’s got. A happy ending seems unlikely…

THE VERDICT: With Close receiving an Oscar nomination for this long-gestating labour of love, this reverse-Tootsie, Dublin-shot period curiosity, based on George Moore’s 1927 novella, has a real shot at commercial success. Because it’s not difficult to see why the major studios turned Close down again and again over the last 30 years. It was a 1982 stage production that first convinced leading lady Close that Albert Nobbs would make a great film, but this muted adaptation seems as muzzled, melancholic and messed-up as its highly repressed protagonist.RATING: 2/5

Review by Paul Byrne 

  • Avg User rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.

User Reviews

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    laume

    "Albert Nobbs" is a film of great texture and tenderness, and the actors are a joy to behold.

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    Onionhead

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times(apologies to Dickens) in this Irish drama of the affluent and the working class at the turn of he century. Glenn Close is a towering figure throughout as Albert Nobbs, a butler at an upscale hotel in Dublin. Close and Mia Wasikowska are both magnificent in this saga of gender identity. Nobbs is dressed as a man in order to work and survive in a world better suited to being a male and she is searching for who and what she should be. Her dream of opening a shop with a woman she has fallen in love with, well played by Wasikowska is deeply affecting. Janet McTeer and Brendan Gleeson round out a perfect ensemble cast as they are two of the best actors working today. Gleeson brings some comic relief as the resident doctor and McTeer gives a sympathetic ear and emotional support to Close. Sinead O'Connor sings the final song as the credits roll. The story is a sad one but due to the great cast it is a movie worth watching.

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    Marty hanratty

    Albert Nobbs is the most heartbreaking and touching film I have seen in years. I disagree with much of what some critics are saying - I was never ever bored, found the drama tense and compelling, subtly building a sense of dread about what might be about to happen. The scene on the beach - Albert's one moment of true freedom, brought tears. Glenn Close is the master of this drama, not Janet McTeer, as some are saying. To me she simply added some comic relief, and was, at most, a cartoon. See it, you will love it.

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    filmbuff2011

    Based on the 1927 novella by Irish writer George Moore, Albert Nobbs is a very curious film indeed. It's been a labour of love for Glenn Close, who first played the part of Albert on stage in 1982. Albert is a softly-spoken waiter at a Victorian-era Dublin hotel who keeps to himself. In reality though, he's actually a woman who goes to extreme lengths to hide her true identity. When he comes across Hubert (an excellent Janet McTeer) who is also a woman dressed as a man, he opens his mind up to new possibilities and pursues a young maid (Mia Wasikowska) who isn't entirely honest with him either. Supported by a fine case of familiar Irish and international faces, Close seamlessly disappears into her character. However, there's something queasy about an old man pursuing such a young woman. It's not unreasonable to suggest that Close is simply too old for the part now. The real reason to watch is the Oscar-nominated Janet McTeer, who steals the film with a memorable performance. At one point, Albert and Hubert go out in public dressed in women's clothes. They look like women pretending to be men pretending to be women. It's a curious, gender-bending film indeed. Not exactly memorable or all that great, but there's enough here to make the film worth a look.

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    mart

    Bright, entertaining and touching, this re-uniting of collaborators sports lush sets and costumery and Oscar level acting by several of the cast

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