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Original Sin
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer


7.8

based on 24 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 22 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for strong sexual content and some violence

Starring Antonio Banderas, Angelina Jolie, Thomas Jane, and Allison Mackie

Set in Cuba in the early 1900's, this is a sexy, suspenseful thriller about the dangerous and sometimes lethal power of love and obsession. (MGM)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Cornell Woolrich (novel Waltz Into Darkness) Michael Cristofer
DIRECTED BY:	Michael Cristofer
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 26, 2002 Video: March 26, 2002 Theatrical: August 3, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	110 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

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...

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie is not intended to be subtle. It is sweaty, candle-lit melodrama, joyously trashy, and its photography wallows in sumptuous decadence.

Chicago Reader Staff (Not Credited)

Retained my interest and sympathy -- at least until the nonsensical ending,

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Jolie and Banderas are two hot actors, in many senses of the word, and their scenes together have a lewd excitement.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Ridiculous, yes, but in an eminently watchable way. Most of the plot twists work surprisingly well, and the frequently naked leads work up some genuine chemistry.

Variety Lisa Nesselson

Lavish and florid, the corny venture falls into so-bad-it's-good territory.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Despite the heavy-handedness, isn't awful enough to be a hilarious howler. But neither is it good enough to become the tropical noir it could have been.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's not nearly as mediocre a two hours as the trailers would have you think.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The lead performances are very strong -- few actors possess as much sheer physical presence as this pair -- but their dialogue is stilted, as though lost in transit from a Victorian hothouse.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Banderas has some very effective moments, but in his emotional scenes, Cristofer has him screaming his lines into Jolie's face with such a spritzing fury, she might have filed a union grievance.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Aspires to blasphemy but achieves only banality.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

An erotic thriller with flaws.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

How bad, really, could it be? I couldn't have guessed.

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

The director belabors every moment, forgetting that pulp tales need to be told quickly, lest the viewer have time to second-guess.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Aficionados of movies in the so-bad-they're-good category might just revel in this overheated costume melodrama.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

It's too labored and ponderous to qualify as a so-bad-it's-good amusement. Original Sin is merely an old-fashioned bore.

San Francisco Chronicle Wesley Morris

Neither epochal nor epic in its ludicrousness. It's just run-of-the-mill trash.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Even the lovemaking scenes between two of Hollywood's most attractive stars -- often shot from above, like Cinemax soft porn -- are so unerotic, they make your skin crawl.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

A first-class snoozer.

USA Today Mike Clark

It's one bad apple.

Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark

An early scene inside a theater seems intended to wink at Sin's critics: "Disgusting! Cheap melodrama," a lady sniffs during intermission. It's a neatly reflexive acknowledgement of what we ourselves are watching, but even at that, our filmmaker is praising himself too extravagantly by half.

New Times (L.A.) Bill Gallo

Anyone who expects a little drama with their screen sex will have to go elsewhere.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Everything in this film is forgettable, right down to bongos pounding on the soundtrack to indicate a quickening of the pulse.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Doesn't even have earnestness going for it -- a tepid, blindly assembled post-noir.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

About half a notch above disaster.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 22 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

G. R. gave it a10:
This is a great movie from beginning to end. At any time I did not know what would happen in the next scene. It is welll written, well directed, well acted, and the choice of actors was great. I am surprised there are many negative reviews. It seems to be a movie that either you love it or you hate it. Even the citics are in the two extremes. If you like Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas you will like this movie. Also, don't see the trailer before you watch the movie.

Christian T gave it a5:
The movie looks very cheap and decadent, but its melodramatic, soapish development makes it trashy fun. Besides, the sex scenes are hot.

sophia gave it a10:
beautiful and I think, emotionally captivating.

ALaine G. gave it a10:
really nice movie! angelina jolie is very beautiful!

G_MAN gave it a10:
The movie is not intended to be subtle. It is sweaty, candle-lit melodrama, joyously trashy, and its photography wallows in sumptuous decadence.

Ashley gave it a 10:
I cried. Beautifuly acted and a story that will tear at your soul.

CY T. gave it a 10:
It is more than mellowdrama . Its about the power that love has on the human soul, how you can love someone so much that you would forgive them for all their faults and still love them until the day you die.

Original Sin Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Original Sin
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer