Sweet Revenge (1998 film)
| Sweet Revenge | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Malcolm Mowbray |
| Produced by | Simon Bosanquet |
| Written by | Malcolm Mowbray |
| Starring |
Sam Neill Helena Bonham Carter Kristin Scott Thomas |
| Music by | Alexandre Desplat |
| Cinematography | Romain Winding |
| Edited by | Barrie Vince |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Sweet Revenge is a 1998 British comedy film written and directed by Malcolm Mowbray. The screenplay is based on the epic two-part play The Revengers' Comedies by Alan Ayckbourn.
The film had a brief and modestly successful theatrical run in Italy under the title Amori e vendette (Loves and Vendettas) but failed to find a distributor elsewhere. It eventually was telecast in the UK by BBC Two on 30 December, 1999, under the title The Revengers' Comedies. It was released on videotape in the United States and France and on DVD in the US.
The plot, reminiscent of the Alfred Hitchcock film Strangers on a Train, focuses on two disparate characters. Conservative Henry Bell has been eased out of his job by condescending Bruce Tick, while wealthy and wildly eccentric Karen Knightly has been abandoned by her lover Anthony Staxton-Billing, who opted to return to his wife Imogen. Both are intent on committing suicide by leaping from the Tower Bridge in London. When neither succeeds, they strike a bargain whereby each agrees to exact revenge on behalf of the other, although Henry is less enthusiastic about the plan.
Karen, disguised as a frumpy office temp, finds employment as an assistant to Tick and quickly derails his marriage by leading his wife Hilary to believe he's involved in an extramarital affair. Henry, meanwhile, is finding it difficult to keep his end of the bargain, since he has fallen in love with Imogen, the object of Karen's revenge. Instead of planning her demise, he begins an affair with the beguiling woman. Henry learns that Anthony left Karen not for Imogen, but for beautician Daphne Teal, and he begins to suspect Karen is more of a villain than a victim. The woman proves to be a formidable foe when she realizes Henry may renege on their deal.
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