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 
Rachel, Rachel
Drama · Romance · 1968
Rachel is a 35-year-old school teacher who has no man in her life and lives with her mother. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out, she begins to have to make decisions about her life and where she wants it to go.
Movie details
Rachel, Rachel
“Who cares about a 35 year old virgin?”
1968 Drama · Romance 1h 41m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.1 / 10
4.1K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
92 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
74 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.6 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Rachel is a 35-year-old school teacher who has no man in her life and lives with her mother. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out, she begins to have to make decisions about her life and where she wants it to go.
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 Rachel, Rachel?
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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Game of Love
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Wander Darkly
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Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Paul Newman
Written by
Stewart Stern
Joanne Woodward
Rachel Cameron
James Olson
Nick Kazlik
Kate Harrington
Mrs. Cameron
Estelle Parsons
Calla Mackie
Donald Moffat
Niall Cameron
Terry Kiser
Preacher
Frank Corsaro
Hector Jonas
Court is in session
Put Rachel, Rachel 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.