The sense of period, of ungainly English pride, is funny and acute, but the movie mislays its sense of wit as the girls grow up.

NEWYORKER: Hilary and Jackie

He is torn, understandably, between the two women, yet the tearing goes on much too long, and the film mislays, in almost every department, the quick, insubordinate wit of its hero.

NEWYORKER: Nowhere Boy