Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987)

Sammy and Rosie are an unconventional middle-class London married couple. They live in the midst of inner-city chaos, surround themselves with intellectual street people, and sleep with ... See full summary »

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writer:

Hanif Kureishi

Stars:

Shashi Kapoor, Claire Bloom, Frances Barber

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shashi Kapoor	...	Rafi Rahman
Frances Barber	...	Rosie Hobbs
Claire Bloom	...	Alice
Ayub Khan-Din	...	Sammy
Roland Gift	...	Danny / Victoria
Wendy Gazelle	...	Anna
Suzette Llewellyn	...	Vivia
Meera Syal	...	Rani
Badi Uzzaman	...	Ghost
Tessa Wojtczak	...	Bridget
Emer Gillespie	...	Eva
Lesley Manville	...	Margy
Mark Sproston	...	Young Policeman
Cynthia Powell	...	Woman in Kitchen
Dennis Conlon	...	Asian Shopkeeper

Storyline

Sammy and Rosie are an unconventional middle-class London married couple. They live in the midst of inner-city chaos, surround themselves with intellectual street people, and sleep with everybody - except each other! Things become interesting when Sammy's father, Raffi, who is a former Indian government minister, comes to London for a visit. Sammy, Rosie, and Raffi try to find meaning through their lives and loves.

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Plot Keywords:

love | inner city | british renaissance | wine | watching tv | 

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Taglines:

As London burns...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sammy y Rosie se acuestan

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,196,336

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel Four Films,Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During its initial release, many American newspapers would not run ads with the full title. Ads would show "Sammy and Rosie" printed at the top of a poster, with the bottom part shredded up.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: True Lies/Angels in the Outfield/Forrest Gump/Mi Vida Loca/Bhaji on the Beach (1994)

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Soundtracks

I Vow to Thee My Country
Composed by Gustav Holst
Lyrics by Cecil Spring-Rice

User Reviews

A blistering attack on Thatcherism.

Stephen Frears intended for this film to make war on the politics of Margaret Thatcher, which he believed were responsible for a breakdown of English society. The film touches upon all of the major issues of England in the 1980s, some would say without covering any of them sufficiently. The figures of Sammy, Rosie, Anna, and Danny (or Victoria, as he calls himself) do their best to come to grips with the world around them, while Rafi and Alice, members of an older generation, can do little more than observe and mourn. Rosie's lesbian friends look at her lifestyle and pronounce: "This is liberalism gone mad", not realizing that she is merely living up to the egalitarianism they espouse. Some would have problems choosing a central character, but I choose Rosie. She is linchpin and catalyst, and at times utterly unreadable.