Jefferson in Paris

 (1995)


  • User Rating 6 votes
  • Critics Rating 9 critics
  • Your Rating   

User Reviews

Historically accurate, as much as possible
Apr 23, 2006
Samuel Sloan - imdb.com
I have written a book on this subject, "The Slave Children of Thomas Jefferson", first published in 1992, so I was expecting to find numerous errors. However, I could not find any. They seem to have made a special effort... Full review
Better than Grandiose
Jul 11, 2005
fowler-16 - imdb.com
So many of the negative comments seem to be reactions against either downplaying or overemphasizing Jefferson's relationship with Sally. It strikes me that this is a reasonably balanced presentation of what's been learned in recent years. Other negative critiques are... Full review
Something for every taste
Feb 03, 2005
Harv Spangle - imdb.com
I wouldn't have been too surprised if Merchant and Ivory had attempted to suit up Anthony Hopkins as Thomas Jefferson or perhaps even fitted Hugh Grant with shoe lifts and an ersatz Viriginia accent for the role. Instead they went... Full review
Great Movie: Jefferson in Paris
Nov 22, 2004
b_jerri_o - yahoo.com
This movie is so creative. Thandie Newton and Seth Gilliam are so talented in 'Jefferson in Paris'. The only reason many individuals found the movie not to their taste, was because it depicted Thomas Jefferson having a sexual relationship with his... Full review
Cerebral Affairs
Jun 10, 2003
treagan-2 - imdb.com
Although I have been interested in Jefferson for many years, I put off seeing this film for some reason, and only caught it recently on cable.I give it mixed reviews, generally favorable. Ivory/Merchant have again fashioned a lavish tableau, and... Full review
I don't have a problem with accepting the affair
Dec 17, 2002
jbuck_919 - imdb.com
I love this movie, because I am a complete sucker for movies set in the 18th century, and this is exceptionally well done. Nick Nolte is the most extremely unlikely choice to play Jefferson, but somehow he and the director... Full review
Watch this film!
Sep 11, 2002
cafeuk - imdb.com
I watched this movie last night. Unbelievably, Channel 4 (tv channel here in the UK) scheduled it at 2.15am - right in the middle of the night! Who on earth is likely to watch it at that time? I just... Full review
More foundling father than Founding Father
Jul 31, 2001
Geofbob - imdb.com
This is a screen account, directed by James Ivory, of a fascinating historical episode - Thomas Jefferson's period as US ambassador in Paris for the five years leading up to the 1789 revolution. Many Americans may be put off the... Full review
An interesting American history movie
Feb 23, 2000
George Harvey - imdb.com
My interest in seeing this movie was to compare it with the recent CBS mini series, "Sally Hemmings," which I recently saw and enjoyed. This movie was slow moving and not nearly as interesting as the mini series but it... Full review
Jefferson in Love
Mar 07, 1999
Varlaam - imdb.com
We are invited here to see some of the more infrequently discussed aspects of the multifaceted Thos. Jefferson: architect, scientist, horticulturalist. Less of these perhaps than we might like, but more than we usually receive. Jefferson the scientist is mostly... Full review

Critics Reviews

| May 08, 2007
The Baltimore Sun
A shot toward the end shows that red Kelly purse floating above Paris' skyline, and you don't believe it for a second - not because the special effects are faulty but because this weak movie never could summon such a strong breeze. As usual, the Merchant-Ivory team is intent on moving its film along agreeably, so when the plot calls for a late-movie spasm of violence, they appear clueless as to how to portray it. ... Full Review
| Aug 07, 2003
Hartford Courant
A shot toward the end shows that red Kelly purse floating above Paris' skyline, and you don't believe it for a second - not because the special effects are faulty but because this weak movie never could summon such a strong breeze. As usual, the Merchant-Ivory team is intent on moving its film along agreeably, so when the plot calls for a late-movie spasm of violence, they appear clueless as to how to portray it. ... Full Review
| Apr 06, 1996
Los Angeles Times
Given the prodigious amount of research involved, the film's portrait of Jefferson as grave, formal and unbending, both serious and seriously repressed, is presumably accurate. But the successful Merchant Ivory ventures have done more than look attractive, they've forged emotional connections with the audience, something "Jefferson in Paris" is unable to do. ... Full Review
| Apr 07, 1995
Washington Post
As a historical spectacle, James Ivory's "Jefferson in Paris" is nearly perfect in every detail. The callous decadence of the ruling class, the intellectual buzzing of the salons and the atmosphere of impending revolt in the streetsthese details about life in Paris during the 1780s are all conveyed with exceptional skill. ... Full Review
| Apr 07, 1995
James Berardinelli's Reviews
The whole film is rather superficial.....It tells its story reasonably well, but doesn't do much more.....Nolte never successfully forges a bond between his character and the audience.....Inexplicably, however, Nolte is actually rather flat..... ... Full Review

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As beautifully staged as all Merchant-Ivory films, "Jefferson in Paris" is nevertheless a disaster, intellectually infuriating and thoughtlessly racist. In this script, which bowdlerizes a crucial juncture in Thomas Jefferson's life, the Founding Father merely founders (and fathers). The film ... Full Article

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