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.
Back to trending 
What a Way to Go!
Comedy · Romance · 1964
A four-time widow discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incredibly rich and died prematurely because of their drive to be rich.
Movie details
What a Way to Go!
“What A Cast!... What A Past!... What A Show!...”
1964 Comedy · Romance 1h 51m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
A four-time widow discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incredibly rich and died prematurely because of their drive to be rich.
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 What a Way to Go!?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
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.
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Watching the Detectives
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Neil, a self-proclaimed film geek and owner of Gumshoe video, has always been content to live vicariously through his favorite films noir. But when he meets Violet, a real-life femme fatale, his mundane world gets turned upside down and the line between reality and the movies quickly begins to blur.
Love Is in the Air
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A fiercely independent pilot fighting to keep her family business afloat starts to fall for the man sent by corporate to ground her operation forever.
Relative Values
Comedy · 2000
A comedy of discriminating taste and dirty little secrets. In 1952 England, Nigel, the Earl of Marshwood, woos Hollywood star Miranda, upsetting both Nigel's mother, Countess Felicity, and Miranda's former love fellow Hollywood star Don. Right before the engagement party at Marshwood, Moxie, the Countess's personal maid and best friend, reveals that Miranda is her estranged sister. Crestwell, the Countess's butler, devises a plan - but an inebriated Don's arrival at Marshwood to talk to Miranda causes all chaos to break loose.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
J. Lee Thompson
Written by
Gwen Davis · Betty Comden · Adolph Green
Shirley MacLaine
Louisa May Foster
Paul Newman
Larry Flint
Robert Mitchum
Rod Anderson Jr.
Dean Martin
Leonard Crawley
Gene Kelly
Pinky Benson
Robert Cummings
Victor Stephanson
Dick Van Dyke
Edgar Hopper
Court is in session
Put What a Way to Go! 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.