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.
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Desk Set
Comedy · Romance · 1957
A computer expert tries to prove his electronic brain can replace a television network's research staff.
Movie details
Desk Set
“The girls and guys who make the office such a wonderful place to love in!”
1957 Comedy · Romance 1h 43m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.0 / 10
Community rating
A computer expert tries to prove his electronic brain can replace a television network's research staff.
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 Desk Set?
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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Yoh! Bestie
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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.
The Prince & Me 4: The Elephant Adventure
Comedy · 2010
One year after their royal wedding, King Edvard and Queen Paige of Denmark receive an invitation to attend the wedding of Princess Myra of Sangyoon. Upon their arrival, Paige finds Myra is unhappy with her arranged marriage to the brooding and sinister Kah and is secretly in love with a young elephant handler named Alu.
Where it lives
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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Walter Lang
Written by
Phoebe Ephron · Henry Ephron
Spencer Tracy
Richard Sumner
Katharine Hepburn
Bunny Watson
Gig Young
Mike Cutler
Joan Blondell
Peg Costello
Dina Merrill
Sylvia Blair
Sue Randall
Ruthie Saylor
Neva Patterson
Miss Warriner
Court is in session
Put Desk Set 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.