Synopsis
Poised to attend Oxford University, 19-year-old Charles Highway decides it's high time to have a romantic encounter with an older woman. With the help of a computer program and several eccentric relatives, Highway sets his sights on seducing Rachel Noyce, a stunning American in her 20s. However, Highway has his work cut out for him. Noyce has a boyfriend, DeForest, and is not exactly receptive to Highway's advances — at first, anyway.
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Cast
- Dexter FletcherCharles Highway
- Ione SkyeRachel Noyce
- Jonathan PryceNorman
- James SpaderDeforest
- Bill PatersonGordon Highway
- Michael GambonDoctor Knowd
- Lesley SharpJenny
- Jared HarrisGeoff
- Aubrey MorrisSir Herbert
- Claire SkinnerGloria
Recommendations
- 80
Washington Post
This is a film that rides on its spiffy cleverness, its swift wit and smart talk. There's an unexpected, not-tightly-screwed-on sense of comedy on display here that's bright and original even when the story falters. - 70
Los Angeles Times
While not especially distinctive, the film is pleasant and amusing. It has a brisk, well-turned-out quality that augurs well for Harris, the son of Richard Harris. - 60
Variety
The basic material is as old as the hills, but Martin Amis, who wrote the original novel some 15 years earlier, explored it in fresh directions. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
OH DEAR, what grade to assign The Rachel Papers? Hmmm, seems this is a British coming-of-age flick that turns out to be a whole lot like the U.S. coming-of-age flicks we've seen a whole lot of. Sure, better cast, earthier language, niftier accents, but the same paint-by-number formula punctuated by the same tacked-on "be true to yourself" moral. Heck, let's be generous: passing, barely passing. [12 May 1989] - 40
Empire
Captures the brash boldness of the novel, but not the literary wit. A misguided affair. - 40
Time Out
Working from his own script, Harris shows no sense of detail; characters barely develop, London becomes a topographical mess, and each time the plot falters, we get long '60s-style interludes with no dialogue, cut to bland pop. The result is without dramatic or moral weight, despite Highway's contrived comeuppance, and it's impossible to care about the characters. - 40
TV Guide Magazine
The darker hues of Amis's story, though frequently discernible beneath the gloss, are ultimately submerged beneath the usual set of artistic compromises.
