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Reckoning, The

EMAILPRINTParamount Classics

Reckoning, The  reviews
49
5.3 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 8 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Mark Mills
Barry Unsworth (novel Morality Play)

Directed by: Paul McGuigan

Release Date:
Theatrical: March 5, 2004
DVD: August 3, 2004

Running Time: 110 minutes, Color

Origin: UK / Spain

Summary

RATING: R for some sexuality and violent images

Starring Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe, Simon McBurney, Gina McKee, Brian Cox, Tom Hardy, Stuart Wells, and Matthew MacFadyen

This murder mystery, set in the Middle Ages, is steeped in moral dilemmas about the power of art, the temptations of evil and the search for justice that continue to haunt us in modern times. (Paramount Classics)

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...

90

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

This is a brilliant and unpretentious movie to raise the bar for contemporary popular entertainment, designed for the upper-tier thinkers at the multiplex.

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75

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The Reckoning, with a script by Mark Mills, demands close attention; it's a play of words and ideas crowding for consideration.

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75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Has just a little too much of the whodunit and the thriller and not enough of the temper of its clash between cultures, but it works, maybe because the simplicity of the underlying plot is masked by the oddness of the characters.

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75

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

It's made with seriousness, intelligence and craft, and filmgoers who aren't put off by the slow pace of life in 1380 should see it.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Celebrates the craft of acting both in its story and in fine performances.

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70

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

A beguiling, multilayered drama.

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70

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Intelligent thriller.

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63

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

The notion that stories are the lies that tell the truth isn't new -- even Shakespeare knew that -- but the central conceit of "let's save lives by putting on a play" seems not only artificial, but also hollow.

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63

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Far more imaginative and intriguingly moody than other recent thrillers.

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60

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

The Reckoning isn't great by any means and there are moments during the final stretch when it isn't even good. But for its first hour or so, the story moves at a steady clip, generating enough mystery to keep you guessing and enough atmosphere to keep you interested.

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60

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

An intriguing mix of the familiar and the alien. DaFoe's distinctly American speech patterns are a little jarring amid a tangle of British inflections (French actor Cassel's accent is justified within the story), but it doesn't spoil the film's overall effect.

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60

Variety Lael Loewenstein

Has its flaws, among them a certain self-righteousness and a complicated storyline, but it is never less than gripping thanks to its gifted international cast.

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50

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The Reckoning proceeds with such leaden literal-mindedness that it never seems more than a stodgy (and, at times, blatantly silly) paperback affair.

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50

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Has so many ideas working in it that they all but suffocate its thin plot.

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50

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The story never gathers much dramatic momentum despite an impressive cast and a lot of dank Middle Ages atmosphere.

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50

USA Today Mike Clark

By any reckoning, director Paul McGuigan and writer Mark Mills seem mighty ground down trying to buck these medieval odds.

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50

New York Post Megan Lehmann

So serious-minded it occasionally teeters on the brink of absurdity.

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50

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The movie has none of the embarrassing absurdity and cheap effects that made last year's trip back to the 14th century, "Timeline,'' such a joke. We should be so lucky. Instead, we get a listless avenger drama.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Seems overstuffed and, in its own way, preachy.

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50

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The mystery is never very compelling, Paul McGuigan's direction tends to be obvious and flat, many of the characters are stagy and unconvincing, and Bettany doesn't have anywhere near the star power to hold the movie together.

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50

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

McGuigan's wonderfully ambitious but terribly melodramatic film is chock-full of symbolic references, subtext, and the sort of period detail that made Monty Python's historical comedies so gamely endearing.

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42

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

The problem is the obviousness with which the plot unfolds -- it's as if the filmmakers had a 14th-century audience in mind, one that had never seen a movie.

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40

Village Voice Ed Park

Emphatically acted, ponderous, and ultimately a little silly.

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40

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Maddeningly dull. It works on the cerebrum while the rest of the body drifts off to sleep, and the dullness only intensifies as the film goes on.

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40

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Trudges along the well-trod path of high-minded, schematic storytelling.

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30

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The crucial evidence has to do with rigor mortis. The movie's a stiff too.

30

Washington Post Mark Jenkins

Carries too heavy a burden to succeed as the trifle it really is.

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30

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Although the acting is committed and sometimes stirring, most of the characters are about as one-note as the biblical archetypes Martin wants to get away from in the first place. "The Name of the Rose" this ain't.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes

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

Donna A. gave it a 7:
I like this movie. I was rather slow pace. I still enjoyed it. I just love Paul Bettany's blue eyes!

Richard G. gave it a 6:
Good Movie, very watchable, but the movie forces some issues on the views. Issues such as, actors are "done wrong" in the middle ages and Good will prevail. There are many holes in this movie, MANY. and many BIG movie mistakes especially at the end when the protagonist confronts Degese. This is a very good story though, and if this movie was in the hands of a better director it could be a very good feature film.

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