To Olivia (2021)

The story of the tumultuous marriage between actress Patricia Neal and renowned writer Roald Dahl.

Director:

John Hay

Writers:

John Hay, David Logan

Stars:

Hugh Bonneville, Bobby O'Neill, Eve Prenelle

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Bonneville	...	Roald Dahl
Bobby O'Neill	...	Gus Perkins
Eve Prenelle	...	Geeky Girl
Michael Jibson	...	Pete Perkins
Keeley Hawes	...	Patricia Neal
Darcey Ewart	...	Olivia
Isabella Jonsson	...	Tessa Dahl
Alfie Hardy	...	Theo
Tommy James Hardy	...	Theo
Bodhi Marsan	...	Boy
Dawn Spragg	...	Shopkeeper
Lewis Spencer	...	Young Orderly
Sam Phillips	...	Young Doctor
Sarah Beckett	...	Ward Sister
Brett Fancy	...	Reverend Roberts

Storyline

The story of the tumultuous marriage between actress Patricia Neal and renowned writer Roald Dahl.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Geoffrey Palmer's final film. He died between filming and release of the project.

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Goofs

Both lead actors used the phrase 'Shit happens' during the film. The term was not in existence in 1963, only becoming common in the 1980's, with Wikipedia citing the first recorded reference being in 1964.

User Reviews

An Above Average Film

So To Olivia hit Sky today and I had some time so I decided to watch it and here is my review for the film. The premise of the film documents the story of Roald Dahl and his marriage to actress Patricia Neal and how they hit the rocks after a personal tragedy.

Main Character Hugh Bonneville plays Dahl here and I thought he did a good job in the role, in fact I would argue for a film like this he was the perfect choice for the role as this film is really up his street. Dahl is obviously an iconic character and this film does portray him as a very complex one, who goes through plenty of struggles in the film and I'm guessing his life and I think Bonneville captures that as well as he can here.

Supporting Characters Keely Hawes plays Neal and again I think she is good in her role, the two of them just have good chemistry together and manage to rise above a bit of a weak script to provide good moments and good characters. Hawes provides a strong performance and does a good job in standing side by side with Bonneville and sharing some really good scenes. There are some good smaller roles by Conleth Hill & Sam Heughan that add quality to the cast, I also thought all of the child actors gave good performances here too.

Story I was expecting a bit of a nice film that doesn't have a good story but I was surprised with what I got. This film has some really dark moments in it and sees the two main characters go through real turmoil and adds depth to this whole idea. But this film lacks structure, it feels like a bunch of ideas chucked together and hope that they stick. Also despite thinking Bonneville did a good job I thought they made Dahl a pretty unlikeable character and it was actually pretty difficult to root for him and support him.

Script This for me is the biggest weakness of the film, the script is just poor and not written very well. If it wasn't for the quality of the performers this film would have been a lot worse, it just lacks structure in its storytelling and making the film compelling. You are interested because of Roald Dahl, if it was a completely new story the film would have been much weaker.

Style The film is clearly pretty cheap, but that doesn't really hurt it too much and it does a fine job in keeping you interested enough and did what it needed. It is funny though, the film is only 90 mins but I found it a bit slow and either it needed to be a bit longer or just film it to be a bit faster in pace.

Overall Overall, this is an above average film that is just fine. It doesn't do anything to really stand out but it is an okay film that if you like the description might be worth the 90 mins but I think the majority can give it a skip.

Details

Country:

UK

Release Date:

2021 (USA)

Also Known As:

To Olivia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Align, Atticus Pictures, Goldcrest Features

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min