The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Hobson's Choice
Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1954
A widower refuses to let his three daughters marry in order to avoid paying settlements, so they'll just have to outsmart him.
Movie details
Hobson's Choice
“A Masterpiece of Lusty, Gusty, Rowdy Entertainment”
1954 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 48m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.4 / 10
Community rating
A widower refuses to let his three daughters marry in order to avoid paying settlements, so they'll just have to outsmart him.
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 Hobson's Choice?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
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.
Melody
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Two youngsters declare to their parents that they want to get married. Not sometime in the future but as soon as possible.
Rosaline
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Left heartbroken after Romeo begins to pursue her cousin Juliet, Rosaline schemes to foil the famous romance and win back her guy in this comedic twist of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Shadowlands
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C.S. Lewis, a world-renowned writer and professor, leads a passionless life until he meets spirited poet Joy Gresham.
Endless Love
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A privileged girl and a charismatic boy's instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.
The Secret: Dare to Dream
Drama · 2020
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
The Magnificent Ambersons
Drama · 1942
The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
Irreplaceable You
Comedy · 2018
A stunning cancer diagnosis spurs Abbie to seek a future girlfriend for fiancé and childhood sweetheart Sam, who's clueless when it comes to dating.
Emma.
Comedy · 2020
In 1800s England, a well-meaning but selfish young woman meddles in the love lives of her friends.
Emma
Comedy · 1996
Emma Woodhouse is a congenial young lady who delights in meddling in other people’s affairs. She is perpetually trying to unite men and women who are utterly wrong for each other. Despite her interest in romance, Emma is clueless about her own feelings, and her relationship with gentle Mr. Knightley.
Bride & Prejudice
Drama · 2004
Mrs. Bakshi is eager to find suitors for her four unmarried daughters when a family friend introduces them to handsome American Will Darcy. A Bollywood-style modern adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
David Lean
Written by
David Lean · Wynyard Browne · Norman Spencer
Charles Laughton
Henry Horatio Hobson
John Mills
William Mossop
Brenda De Banzie
Maggie Hobson
Daphne Anderson
Alice Hobson
Prunella Scales
Vicky Hobson
Richard Wattis
Albert Prosser
Derek Blomfield
Freddy Beenstock
Court is in session
Put Hobson's Choice on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
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.