thebluemarlin565
Possible Spoilers: "Magic Beyond Words" tells the story of J.k. Rowling's life leading to the Harry Potter novels. The overall presentation is nice, giving us some insight on Rowling's life. However, there are many inaccuracies and clichés that makes some of the research questionable. The inaccuracies include incorrect portrayals of many of the settings in the movie like Wyedean School and London itself, some cultural mistakes like having sweet trolleys on English trains, and many more. The clichés include over dramatic portrayals of some life events like her time with her first husband, and some usual clichés like when she says "Do you think we'll ever see Harry Potter in that window display? Not bloody likely". On the other hand, it Poppy Montgomery gives a very charming performance as J.k. Rowling and the film has a rather nice atmosphere when giving telling it's story. In conclusion, it feels like a quick scroll through Wikipedia, giving the main build of Rowling's life but having some frustrating inaccuracies and leaving some crucial parts out like Rowing's dealings with depression. If you want to learn a bit about Rowling's life and can deal with some inaccuracies and clichés then watch this at your own risk, if you don't like inaccuracies or clichés then maybe keep on looking.
alfiethompson123
As a former Wyedean student I'm not sure where to even start... The entire film is just shockingly researched from start to finish. Any fact finding has evidently been done by a couple of researchers sat at their office desks in America typing associated words into Wikipedia. As a former student of Wyedean, I can tell you now that the school is absolutely nothing like it is portrayed in the film. The film makers seem to have somehow got the idea that Hogwarts would be based upon Wyedean regarding looks, but in seven years of education there I do not once recall coming across any of the high ceilinged corridors or ornate beams pictured in the film. There were other numerous factual inaccuracies about England in general, such as the sweet trolley on the train, and the fact that Rowling is advised to hire an 'attorney', which is frankly a mistake an 11 year old wouldn't make. Perhaps the most frustrating moment in the entire film, for me certainly, was the line 'Being head girl at Wyedean just means least likely to go to jail', which was not only astonishingly inaccurate and very untrue, but downright insulting to the school and its staff and pupils.This is the point where I say 'so forget the inaccuracies, just watch it, it's a good Sunday afternoon trash film to pass the time', but I'm not going to, because its terrible even as that. I have no idea how this film ever made it onto any kind of screen.
neptunegalaxy
I loved Poppy Montgomery acting, but I think they got J.K's personality all wrong. Any fan of J.K.Rowling that ever read some of her interviews, watch documentaries, maybe read a biography or at least bothered to know more about her besides the single-penniless-mother-writer slogan that came attached to her name would realize that she is not quiet like that.Sure, they got her hair right, the sets, the atmosphere was great, but regarding other things (her personality, her reaction to things MOSTLY) I believe they just came up with. Like, they would look into a certain situation that we know for a fact that happen and just wonder what she would have done, instead of what she did, and by doing that they changed her personality completely. Its entertaining, but its not biographical.For example, she wasn't at all somebody that would go around screaming I WANT TO BE A WRITER for everyone everywhere, she said many times she never felt like she could tell someone that. I don't remember much about the movie but I remember that at one point she screams with one of her teachers for some random reason... Every fan knows J.K.Rowling was an observer person, quiet as a kid and melancholic as a teenager, listening to The Smiths, always with her head in books, an eccentric person, with hysterical laughs and fun but also very introspective, had a serious depression after she came back from Portugal, etcetera. Its part of the common knowledge that fans have of her, and their J.K.Rowling is not like that at all.
Kiwi666
OK viewing for a damp winters day when there is nothing else on the box and your DVD player is on the blink. Research is laughable (if it was done at all) Knowing Tutshill, having attended Wyedean and having worked in Edinburgh, this film shows the typical sickly sweet idealistic old fashioned chocolate box view of "little old England" (but at least they recognised that Edinburgh is in Scotland). Maybe I'm being picky, but when making a biopic (authorised or otherwise) surely they should have a far better idea of the locations? It is 8-10 miles from Tutshill to the outer edges of the forest for a start. the uniforms for Wyedean are completely the wrong colours and the badge is a figment of the film makers imagination. All it would have taken was a quick search on Google ...... and don't even get me started on the buildings!!As has already been noted by another reviewer, the linguistic differences between us and our North American cousins are very apparent (although I do note that the lead is played by an Australian) the accents throughout are either the typically clipped accents favoured by North American movie makers and the Scottish accents are woefully inaccurate. The language used is about as inaccurate as you can get whilst still speaking English one example being assistance (benefits) i'm surprised they didn't talk about grade school, high school etc.
AD
