My Favorite Year

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My Favorite Year

PG

1982

1h 32m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

30 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Fledgling comic Benjy Stone can't believe his luck when his childhood hero, the swashbuckling matinée idol Alan Swann, gets booked to appear on the variety show he writes for. But when Swann arrives, he fails to live up to his silver screen image. Instead, he's a drunken womanizer who suffers from stage fright. Benjy is assigned to look after him before the show, and it's all he can do to keep his former idol from going completely off the rails.

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Critics Consensus

My Favorite Year is a joyful ode to the early days of television, carried with a deft touch and Peter O'Toole's uproariously funny performance.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 19, 2023

As the guest from Hollywood -- the peacock Alan Swann, who is part John Barrymore and part Errol Flynn (maybe the best parts of each) --O'Toole is simply astounding.

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Derek Malcolm

Guardian

Mar 24, 2023

It is clearly O'Toole's film, and he is superb at playing the O'Toole of every gossip-writer's most cherished wish.

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Michael Sragow

Rolling Stone

Jun 21, 2022

My Favorite Year is a film that rises -- and sometimes soars -- on the beauty of its central idea and on the loving, intelligent way it’s been fleshed out.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Sep 17, 2020

4.0/4.0

My Favorite Year, with the possible exception of Lawrence of Arabia, is my favorite Peter O'Toole performance.

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Molly Haskell

Vogue

Feb 27, 2020

My Favorite Year turns aggravated mayhem, assault, and hammery into comic gold.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Feb 25, 2020

3/4

Filmmaker Benjamin delivers a lackadaisically-paced yet generally entertaining comedy that benefits substantially from the leads' superb work...

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Dee

Mar 4, 2024

Slow start but the rest did not disappoint ! Loved it!

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Ron S

@RonFromIll Aug 27, 2026

This is one of my 5 favorite movies, and is one that I regularly watch again and again. It’s laugh out loud funny and also a “feel good” movie.

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Vincent S

@Vin_E_At_The_Movies May 22, 2026

I love, love, love this heartfelt, hilarious and extremely well-acted and cast, loving tribute to classic television. Peter O'Toole is outstanding, funny and vulnerable. The rest of the veteran cast is also sublime, and Mark Linn-Baker makes an assured, stunning debut with heart. This is so much fun!

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Russ G

@RT78760655 Mar 3, 2025

Peter O'Toole, a notorious drunk and rake, channels one a generation earlier: Errol Flynn, after whom the "In Like Flynn" phrase was modeled.

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Lydia T

@Lyddie Feb 23, 2025

Perfect casting and very funny.

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Chris B

@RT01329458 Feb 22, 2025

Hilariously written and performed. Wonderfully romantic depiction of the Golden Age of television.

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Richard Benjamin

Director

Peter O'Toole

Alan Swann

Mark Linn-Baker

Benjy Stone

Joseph Bologna

King Kaiser

Jessica Harper

K.C. Downing

Bill Macy

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Synopsis

Fledgling comic Benjy Stone can't believe his luck when his childhood hero, the swashbuckling matinée idol Alan Swann, gets booked to appear on the variety show he writes for. But when Swann arrives, he fails to live up to his silver screen image. Instead, he's a drunken womanizer who suffers from stage fright. Benjy is assigned to look after him before the show, and it's all he can do to keep his former idol from going completely off the rails.

Director: Richard Benjamin
Producer: Michael Gruskoff
Screenwriter: Norman Steinberg, Dennis Palumbo
Distributor: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Brooksfilms
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 1, 1982, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2008
Runtime: 1h 32m

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