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 
Limelight
Romance · Drama · Comedy · 1952
A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.
Movie details
Limelight
“The masterpiece of laughter and tears from the master of comedy!”
1952 Romance · Drama · Comedy 2h 17m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.9 / 10
Community rating
A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.
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 Limelight?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
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.
Feel the Beat
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High Strung
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Twelfth Night
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Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.
A California Christmas: City Lights
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Quartet
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Cissy, Reggie, and Wilf are in a home for retired musicians. Every year, there is a concert to celebrate Composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday and they take part. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva, but she refuses to sing. Still, the show must go on, and it does.
I Met a Girl
Romance · 2020
An aspiring musician struggling with schizophrenia falls for a mysterious woman who may be all in his head. When she suddenly vanishes, he takes off on a cross-country journey across Australia to find her, forcing his long-suffering brother to chase after him.
A California Christmas
Comedy · 2020
With his carefree lifestyle on the line, a wealthy charmer poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family’s land before Christmas.
The Other Sister
Comedy · 1999
A mentally challenged girl proves herself to be every bit as capable as her "perfect" sister when she moves into an apartment and begins going to college.
Afterlife of the Party
Fantasy · 2021
A social butterfly who dies during her birthday week is given a second chance to right her wrongs on Earth.
Where it lives
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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Charlie Chaplin
Written by
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Calvero
Claire Bloom
Thereza 'Terry' Ambrose
Nigel Bruce
Postant
Buster Keaton
Calvero's Partner
Sydney Chaplin
Neville
Norman Lloyd
Bodalink
Andre Eglevsky
Dancer - Harlequin
Court is in session
Put Limelight on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.