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Houseboat

Houseboat

Comedy · Romance · 1958

An Italian socialite on the run signs on as housekeeper for a widower with three children.

Movie details

Houseboat

“It All Happens Happily on a Heaven of a Houseboat!”

1958 Comedy · Romance 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

An Italian socialite on the run signs on as housekeeper for a widower with three children.

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 Houseboat?

The 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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Splendor

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Feast of the Seven Fishes

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A slice of life story that follows a large Italian family on Christmas Eve as they prepare for the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes, reminisce about the past and seek love in the future.

Social Animals

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Determined not to turn into her parents, or be drawn into any relationship longer than a one night stand, Zoe constantly struggles with her failing business and love life. Then she falls in love for the first time with Paul. But there's one problem: Paul is married.

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Bye Bye Love

Bye Bye Love

Comedy · 1995

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Melville Shavelson

Written by

Melville Shavelson · Jack Rose · Betsy Drake

Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Tom Winters

Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren

Cinzia Zaccardi

Martha Hyer

Martha Hyer

Carolyn Gibson

Harry Guardino

Harry Guardino

Angelo Donatello

Eduardo Ciannelli

Eduardo Ciannelli

Arturo Zaccardi

Murray Hamilton

Murray Hamilton

Capt. Alan Wilson

Mimi Gibson

Mimi Gibson

Elizabeth Winters

Court is in session

Put Houseboat on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

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.

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.