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Mrs. Soffel

Mrs. Soffel

Drama · Romance · 1984

Kate Soffel is married to a prison warden in Pittsburgh, and is the mother of their four children. Ed Biddle is a convicted murderer awaiting execution on death row with his brother Jack. When Kate meets Eddie through her Bible readings to the prisoners, she is drawn to him, and they pursue a clandestine relationship. She agrees to help the brothers escape, and begins a treacherous journey with them to freedom in Canada.

Movie details

Mrs. Soffel

“A true story.”

1984 Drama · Romance 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

Kate Soffel is married to a prison warden in Pittsburgh, and is the mother of their four children. Ed Biddle is a convicted murderer awaiting execution on death row with his brother Jack. When Kate meets Eddie through her Bible readings to the prisoners, she is drawn to him, and they pursue a clandestine relationship. She agrees to help the brothers escape, and begins a treacherous journey with them to freedom in Canada.

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 Mrs. Soffel?

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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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Gillian Armstrong

Written by

Ron Nyswaner

Diane Keaton

Diane Keaton

Kate Soffel

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson

Ed Biddle

Matthew Modine

Matthew Modine

Jack Biddle

Edward Herrmann

Edward Herrmann

Warden Peter Soffel

Trini Alvarado

Trini Alvarado

Irene Soffel

Jennifer Dundas

Jennifer Dundas

Margaret Soffel

Danny Corkill

Danny Corkill

Eddie Soffel

Court is in session

Put Mrs. Soffel 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.