This emotionally moving romantic drama was adapted by William Nicholson from his own acclaimed play, based upon the real-life romance (during the 1950s) between the British writer C.S. Lewis and a divorced American poet named Joy Gresham. Best known for writing The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) is living comfortably as a respected Oxford don, his academic lifestyle a kind of shell protecting him from the emotional risk of love. Joy Gresham (Debra Winger) arrives at Oxford as an avid admirer of Lewis's writing, and the safety of his collegiate routine is quickly disrupted when Lewis realizes that he's fallen deeply and unexpectedly in love. Their courtship is uniquely engaging; he's shy and uncertain, she's outspoken and bold. But when Joy is diagnosed with cancer, Lewis's Christian faith is put to the test--he cannot fathom why their happiness together would be so drastically challenged. Together, they find a way to accept and honor the time they have shared together, and under the sensitive direction of Richard Attenborough, Shadowlands arrives at a conclusion that is both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Hopkins and Winger are equally superb in this absorbing story of personal and spiritual transformation--a story previously filmed for British television in 1985, with Joss Ackland and Claire Bloom. --Jeff Shannon
2.
C.S. "Jack" Lewis, a respected Oxford professor of literature, lives a solitary existence as a middle-aged bachelor. His writings have won the admiration of Joy Gresham, an American poet recovering from a broken marriage, for whom Lewis is a paragon of literary brilliance and an inspiration. Though Lewis and Gresham have corresponded for years by mail, they never meet until Joy decides, on the spur of the moment, to take her son on a trip to England. Finally, she'll get an opportunity to meet the erudite scholar. Though their initial encounters are fettered by British upper-class social strictures and proper etiquette, Joy gradually breaks through Lewis's reserve, and the two develop a closeness that blooms into a joy-filled romance.
3.
Based on a true story, C.S. Lewis is a world-renowned writer and professor. Unmarried, he leads a gentleman's life filled by intellectual pursuits, remaining untouched by any great passion until he meets Joy Gresham. Joy is a fiesty, abrasive New York divorcee whose sharp-edged, no-nonsense attitudes take Lewis by surprise. Slowly he opens his heart to this woman, and their romance shatters the walls of his cloistered world. Directed by Richard Attenborough (Chaplin).
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
