[5] Among changes made to Waugh's novel is the removal of Jenny Abdul Akbar, a princess whom Brenda attempts to set Tony up with during her absence from Hetton.

[6][7] The film also begins with shots of South America to smooth over the transition between the story's two parts,[5] and George Fenton's score foreshadows the Amazonian ending by using indigenous flute music during English scenes.

[9] Although Granger was convinced of Scott Thomas's rightness for the part of Brenda, director Charles Sturridge insisted that she screen-test, as she was unknown and most of her acting jobs had been in the medium of French.

[24] Sheila Johnston in The Independent was cool about the film: "it was probably inevitable that, under the dead hand of the English costume tradition, Evelyn Waugh's savage social satire should take on the indulgent patina of a period piece".

[25] In The Times, David Robinson struck a similar note: "A Handful of Dust is a lot funnier and more acid on the printed page than in Charles Sturridge's screen adaptation".

He suggested several reasons for this: the filmmakers had emphasized the story's sentimental and romantic aspects; the novel was now "a period piece"; the leads had been cast with actors "whose style lacks a comic edge".

His major complaint was that the shift in tone in the book's final Amazonian scenes was harder to accomplish on screen: "in the film the necessary change of gear seems to be missing".

[6] Richard Mayne in The Sunday Telegraph likewise felt that the realistic medium of cinema showed up "fanciful" plot twists like Tony's ultimate fate.

[28] Philip French in The Observer gave credit to the film's technical aspects, but felt that on the whole Sturridge and Granger had "drained away much of the wit" from Waugh's novel: "A tough-minded tragi-comedy has been turned into a stately elegant exercise in nostalgia".

[8] Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised Anjelica Huston's portrayal of Mrs Rattery as the "single most stunning performance" but called the film "both too literal and devoid of real point.

Although lavish in praise for the whole cast, she singled out James Wilby in the demanding male lead: "As Waugh's betrayed romantic, Tony must grow enormously during the story's wild turnings, or the whole project dies.

"[30] Rita Kempley in The Washington Post conceded that the film was "well acted" but found the characters' sang-froid and the story's detached perspective on them alienating, and disliked the Amazonian coda: "The movie loses its sense of place and structure...

The performances imply more than the dialogue explains, and there are passages where we cannot quite believe how monstrously the characters are behaving... "A Handful of Dust" has more cruelty in it than a dozen violent Hollywood thrillers, and it is all expressed so quietly, almost politely.

"[32] When the film appeared on VHS, Elkan Allan reviewed in The Independent: "Marvellous central performances by James Wilby and Kristin Scott Thomas... A delight tinged with sadness".