The Ruling Class

Starring: Peter O'Toole, William Mervyn, Carolyn Seymour, Alastair Sim, Harry Andrews, Michael Bryant, Arthur Lowe, Coral Browne, James Villiers, Hugh Burden, Kay Walsh, Nigel Green
Directed by: Peter Medak
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
1972

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After a member of the House of Lords dies, his family is stunned when he leaves his estate to his son (Peter O'Toole), who believes he is Jesus Christ.

Review:

Tim: When I first started watching Peter Medak's The Ruling Class, I really loved it. I had no idea what I was watching. There's this aristocratic family, the patriarch dies in a horribly embarrassing accident, and his estate goes to Peter O'Toole, who believes he is Jesus. And, there's the occasionally musical number. I was transfixed by this odd, hilarious, unique movie. I remember thinking, "This could definitely be a great film." However, this British movie goes on and on...and on. It clocks in at 2 hours and 34 minutes and by the end of the film, I could barely stay engaged. I still ended up liking the movie, but it was such an exhaustive experience by the end that it was hard to remember what I loved about the beginning. In the end, I'll say this is an effective movie, but it absolutely overstays its welcome.

The film is based on a stage play, which makes sense. It's mostly a comedy, but it does bring in some dramatic elements throughout the film. My favorite, though, were the awkward, unnecessary and unexpected musical numbers. I believe I laughed out loud the first time it happened and every one had me grinning from ear to ear. Medak does a good job of bringing in the musical and dramatic elements every so often, but there's no doubt this is first and foremost a comedy.

Peter O'Toole is remarkable as Jack (or The Lord, as he prefers to be called). O'Toole's performance is stunning, every moment of screen time is mesmerizing as he delivers a uniquely brilliant performance. He received the film's only Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor, and he absolutely deserved to be nominated (I'd still give the win to Marlon Brando for The Godfather). O'Toole is hilarious, energetic and brings such charisma to the role. He looks ridiculous, but he just fully embraces this. He's over-the-top and I couldn't take my eyes off him. The musical numbers are fantastic, as he shows some great dancing and singing. I've always liked O'Toole to a certain extent (Lawrence of Arabia is an all-time classic), but I walked away from this movie stunned by how talented of an actor he is. O'Toole is a big reason why this movie works and his performance is simply incredible.

The supporting cast is good, too, although most are clearly below O'Toole's level. William Mervyn was effective in his straightforward role. Alastair Sim had some really nice moments throughout the film and always picked things up when he showed up on screen. I thought Carolyn Seymour was a definite standout as the mistress brought in to marry Jack. Her role is so critical and she brings a nice energy to the cast. I was quite impressed with her performance. Michael Bryant added some nice work with his supporting turn as a psychiatrist. Arthur Lowe is by far the best of the supporting cast, though. He was absolutely hilarious throughout the entire film as the family butler who inherits money and no longer cares. I loved everything he did, whether that was getting big, raucous laughs or small, subtle ones. He was a definite scene stealer and I loved how he interacted with and prodded the rest of the cast. He and O'Toole worked really well together. Truly, when I think about this film, it makes me smile to think about what Lowe did on screen. I think he deserved an Best Supporting Actor nomination.

As I said, the first hour to 90 minutes of the film were incredible. It felt like such a zany, insane movie that touched on themes of classism, religion, politics, sexuality, and psychiatry. It felt wholly unique and I was so invested in the story. Unfortunately, the movie keeps going on and it loses effectiveness on the back half of the middle. By the time Nigel Green shows up, I was definitely losing interest. He and O'Toole have an intense, memorable scene, but it ultimately felt too long. After that scene, the story really got challenging to stay focused upon. The rest of the movie was fine, but I didn't love the eventual conclusion. By the end of the movie, I was a bit exhausted with it all. I still could appreciate so much about the film, but the flaws were overt and apparent.

I'd definitely recommend The Ruling Class (although not that loudly). It has so many great strengths. It's ultimately too much to sit through, but it's a solid film with some truly incredible moments. It's a movie that mostly makes me happy to think about. It's definitely a good film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion in Winter