The Laureate

8/28/2022

Nancy Nicholson (Laura Haddock), wife of Robert Graves (Tom Hughes), is a proponent of birth control. Nancy’s mother-in-law declares that “Birth control is nothing more than an incitement to promiscuity.” She makes a good point, at least based on the evidence of The Laureate. This movie is more concerned with all the possible sexual combinations vis-a-vis the foursome of Robert, Nancy, Laura Riding (Dianna Agron), and Geoffrey Phibbs (Fra Fee) than with the lives and work of any of them. Robert invites Laura, an American poet, critic, novelist, essayist, and short story writer, to spend some time at the country house – whose pastoral setting provides the only pleasure found in this film – that he shares with Nancy and their daughter, Catherine (Indica Watson). Ostensibly, “Laura w

5/6/2023

Struggling writer Robert Graves (Tom Hughes), his wife Nancy (Laura Haddock) and daughter Catherine (Indica Watson) move to a remote Oxfordshire home where they hope he can find some inspiration (and money!). It's whilst there that they read a poem from American author Laura Riding (Dianna Agron) and decide that they ought invite her over to stay for a while. Over she comes and what now ensues is an illustration of their much publicised menage-à-trois that also draws in the somewhat hapless Geoffrey Phibbs (Fra Fee) before heading for a denouement that is going to shake things up considerably! This film looks good, but none of the performances catch fire. Hughes is adequate and actually rather looks the part but neither Haddock nor Agron really raise their game enough to imbue this with an