Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

"If you have a normal 21st century attention span, you won't get it."8/10

It is the late-1950s and, due to the death of Lord Darlington, Darlington Hall has just been bought by Jack Lewis, an American. On the staff of the hall is the head butler, James Stevens. Through his eyes we see the what took place in the hall over the last 25 or so years, including the lead-up to World War 2, Stevens' undying devotion to his job and master and his relationship with the housekeeper, Miss Kenton.Wonderfully engaging, interesting and moving movie. The main plot is essentially the story of one man, Stevens, and his devotion to his job. Anthony Hopkins is superb as Stevens, capturing well the robot-like blinkeredness of a butler who believes duty, dedication and dignity are everything, at the expense of feelings and expression.Around Stevens are spun a few other stories, making the movie quite multi-faceted. Among these, there's the history of the household, and Lord Darlington especially. We have the build-up to WW2, showing just how it developed, and how many were sucked into appeasing Germany in the lead-up to it.Then there's the relationship between Stevens and Miss Kenton, which provides some of the most emotional parts of the movie. It also provides some great "what if?" moments.Nominated for eight Oscars in 1994, including Best Film, Best Director for James Ivory, Best Leading Actor for Anthony Hopkins and Best Leading Actress for Emma Thompson, unfortunately The Remains Of The Day did not win in any category.

Following re-watching Silence of the Lambs a week or two back, just finished Remains of the Day for at least the 15th time. How can one man deliver two performances so brilliant and so different less than 2 years apart? Other films come and go from my top 5, but RotD has been in my top 2 since the first time I saw it more than 20 years ago (1 and 2 switch about).Anthony Hopkins' performance is, in my opinion, the best piece of acting I've ever seen. Not just words - I've truly never seen better. Repression and dignity personified, tragic, complex and totally convincing. The story spans more than 30 years, but with no obvious prosthetics they age in front of your eyes with a change in facial expression and a different posture, gait or outfit. In fact there is not a bum note in the whole thing - performance, story, authenticity, emotions, realism.The rest of the cast are almost as perfect; from the ******** posh idiots (the scene where they 'prove' that politics is beyond the wit of the common man is awful but brilliant) and the famous faces; Emma Thompson (I'm more than a little in love with her here), Hugh Grant (funny, sharp-minded and charming), Edward Fox (the benchmark for posh but well meaning and so easily led due to basic morality), Peter Vaughn (dying old man, again!), Lena Headey (so different from Game of Thrones), Christopher Reeve (always great to see him doing more than Superman and sad to remember who he was before the accident). Such a recognisable crowd, but within seconds you forget the famous faces and just believe the story.And as a bonus it features 2 pubs I used to drink in as a youngster and parts are filmed in a village I grew up near and had friends living just up the road. I remember when I was at school people were excited about it and there were rumours locals would be cast - all ******** of course. Makes it even more interesting, to me at least.The whole thing is amazing. I'll be back to it again and again.

As I turned the lights up in our TV room, my wife and I looked at each other and both said, "What was THAT??" In this case "that" was "The Remains of the Day," a story about a butler who has the range of emotions of Chance the Gardener in "Being There," and the personality of drying paint.Playing this role was a tough assignment, but give credit to Anthony Hopkins for pulling it off. Without his performance, this movie would be a complete stinker. With it, the movie is watchable, but still unsatisfying. The main problem is that the movie doesn't go anywhere. You know, the old "writing 101" business about beginning, middle, and end, and the concept that there ought to be a climax or resolution or something that pulls things together as you get to the final scenes.Instead, at the end you just scratch your head and wonder why you just spent 2+ hours watching this thing.If someone recommends this movie to you because your wife likes "Downton Abbey" (which is how we came to rent it), do yourself a favor and instead rent the very similar, and infinitely better film, "The Grand Budapest Hotel." It too has a "majordomo" at its center (a concierge at a hotel instead of a butler in a private residence), but the characters in that film are infinitely more interesting and compelling. That film is also told in flashbacks, but to much better effect. But the key difference is that the resolutions at the end are satisfying in all respects.What makes it so much better? One word: writing. It is simply much, much better-written.So, "The Remains of the Day" is way over-rated (nominated for a "best picture" Oscar which it most definitely did not deserve) and, except for Hopkins' performance, deserves no other accolades.