Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 26 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 18 Ratings

  • Summary: A richly imagined joumey into the life and writings of the brilliant Cuban author and exile Reinaldo Arenas. (Fine Line Features)
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 26
  2. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. It's an horrific and tragic story, but somehow made beautiful through the care and attention of Schnabel's direction and Bardem's tender, unforgettable performance.
  2. It's huge and bewildering and it hurts to watch, but it hurts so good it's gorgeous.
  3. 80
    It's such a sensory experience; in its best moments, the film washes over you like a fever dream.
  4. Under Schnabel's direction, it becomes stilted and static, if not simplistic.

See all 26 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Aside from a few fleeting moments of cinematic brilliance and some key performances, Julian Schnabel's biopic of homosexual Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas falls flat on its face. Guest spots by Sean Penn and Johnny Depp are hilarious, though. Expand

See all 8 User Reviews