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Inheritance, The

EMAILPRINTThe Cinema Guild

Inheritance, The reviews
68
9.3 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 3 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Foreign

Written by: Per Fly
Kim Leona
Mogens Rukov
Dorte Høeg

Directed by: Per Fly

Release Date:
Theatrical: July 9, 2004
DVD: June 7, 2005

Running Time: 107 minutes, Color

Origin: Denmark / Sweden

Language(s): Danish and Swedish (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Ulrich Thomsen, Lisa Werlinder, Ghita Nørby, Karina Skands, Lars Brygmann, Peter Steen, Diana Axelsen, and Jesper Christensen

A gripping drama from celebrated Danish director Per Fly, The Inheritance is the story of a man transformed by power. (Cinema Guild)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A powerhouse. Highly dramatic and intensely emotional, blessed with strong themes and an unstoppable narrative drive, it is adult, intelligent entertainment of a kind we rarely see these days.

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90

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Thomsen's transformation from easygoing entrepreneur to ruthless executive is so engrossing I didn't pick up on the story's chilling Freudian subtext until very near the end.

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90

Time Richard Schickel

A formally elegant, subtly savage and powerfully affecting film.

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88

Miami Herald Marta Barber

Though all actors are up to the challenge, it is the plot that makes The Inheritance shine.

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83

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

The politics of the story come to life through the vivid characterizations of a uniformly excellent cast.

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80

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The cast, all classically trained on the stage, is simply commanding.

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80

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Director Fly works with a delicate touch, probing the slow, insidious corruption of this fundamentally decent but weak man.

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75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The acting is fine, the filmmaking is honest, and the class-conscious story couldn't be more timely.

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70

The New York Times Stephen Holden

As the relentlessly morose movie shows, a corporate hero is not the same thing as a humanitarian; in many ways, he's the antithesis.

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70

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Once we learn the story's terrain, we have a pretty good idea of the paths it will follow. Still, because the picture is tidily directed and acted--in one case, better than that--it has the comforts of well-made old things.

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70

Variety Eddie Cockrell

Arresting and fascinating.

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70

TV Guide Ken Fox

Fly's striking, often suspenseful drama has all the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy: an insecure young prince who must prove his mettle and loses his soul; a cruel, manipulative queen who cares only for power; a close adviser whose motives aren't always clear.

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70

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

Indeed, in this era of muckraking left-wing documentaries, The Inheritance offers a more fascinating fictionalized look at what cut-throat capitalism can do to conscience.

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60

Empire David Parkinson

Tautly scripted by director Per Fly and bullishly played, this is soap for the ciné-sophisticate.

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60

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

The film is an initially insightful portrait of modern corporate society that unfortunately lapses into melodrama.

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50

New York Post V.A. Musetto

The Inheritance has a promising start but soon becomes preachy and melodramatic.

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50

Village Voice Leslie Camhi

The Inheritance is most effective in its first half...But the film falters as it moves closer to home and the heart, veering off into melodramatic and quasi-surreal scenarios.

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

An initially engaging but ultimately wearying combination of naturalistic acting, cinéma vérité camerawork, and broadly melodramatic plotting.

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50

Boston Globe Joan Anderman

The actors give it their best, Thomsen and Werlinder in particular.

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25

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Don't see The Inheritance if you're already depressed. This airless downer from Danish director Per Fly is about an heir who makes one wrong decision from which even lousier decisions effortlessly flow.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Brook E. gave it a 10:
Simply put, this is one of the year's best films. Don't let the "It's-such-a-downer" crowd keep you away from this intense and taut family drama. This is a film not to be missed by anyone serious about seeing fine cinema.

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