On the face of it, A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL reveals that director Michael Winner wasn't at his best when directing comedies. His various films with Charles Bronson were much better: tighter, more exciting, with better direction. This adaptation of the Alan Ayckbourn play is a little dreary, a little slow, although it does have a fantastic (and fascinating) cast to recommend it and to help while away the time.
The plot concerns a good-looking young man (Jeremy Irons, at his suave best) who joins an amateur dramatic society in a provincial British town. Before long, he's mired in a hotbed of scandal, corruption, and seduction, and an all-star cast of British luminaries do their best with the occasional limitations of the script. Thus we get the likes of Gareth Hunt and Jenny Seagrove in straight roles, Prunella Scales in an odd choice as a love interest, a hammy Anthony Hopkins as a barnstorming Welshman, and more minor parts for the likes of Richard Briers, Lionel Jeffries, and Patsy Kensit.
The plot concerns a good-looking young man (Jeremy Irons, at his suave best) who joins an amateur dramatic society in a provincial British town. Before long, he's mired in a hotbed of scandal, corruption, and seduction, and an all-star cast of British luminaries do their best with the occasional limitations of the script. Thus we get the likes of Gareth Hunt and Jenny Seagrove in straight roles, Prunella Scales in an odd choice as a love interest, a hammy Anthony Hopkins as a barnstorming Welshman, and more minor parts for the likes of Richard Briers, Lionel Jeffries, and Patsy Kensit.