Luther
Metascore
47 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 23
  3. Negative: 2 out of 23
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  1. The New Republic
    Reviewed by: Stanley Kauffmann
    80
    Fiennes has imagined and created from within. His Luther is not the thunderer we might expect, but he is, wondrously, the incarnation of a man passionate for God and angry with mundane intercessions.
  2. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Marc Mohan
    75
    Overall, Luther does a satisfying job of restoring humanity to a woodcut icon.
  3. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    75
    Veteran British director Eric Till otherwise does a credible job of sweeping us through this huge life, and his eye for detail combines with the Oscar-worthy production design and a succession of striking Eastern European locations to create a rich visual tapestry of the Middle Ages.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Brown
    67
    Rising above the throng is the great wreck of Sir Peter Ustinov, who, as the canny, saucy German Prince Frederick, distinguishes both himself and the movie.
  5. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Ellen Fox
    63
    Aside from a couple of unintelligible conversations with himself, there's barely any God here. The film would rather just be inclusive. Luther might have wanted it that way, but as moviegoers, it's hard not to want more.
  6. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    63
    An entertaining history lesson. That is, a history lesson that synopsizes and simplifies a complex life and complicated times into easily digestible panels of action, intrigue, martyrdom and sticking it to the papacy.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    The film winds up stranding us in a desperate wilderness of collapse and betrothal.
  8. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    60
    The unimposing Fiennes may not suggest the burly Luther's plain-talking peasant background, but he at least captures the charisma.
  9. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Jean Oppenheimer
    60
    With Joseph Fiennes as the conflicted, frequently self-hating Luther, this historical drama/biopic offers a fairly thorough overview of the period (although it's weak on the "good deeds" angle) but is somewhat dry and weighted with significance.
  10. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    60
    After a summer of numbing mindlessness, there is something frankly refreshing about a movie that deals even superficially with as significant a figure as the rebellious 16th century theologian Martin Luther, one of the founders of Protestantism and the man who put the reform in the Reformation.
  11. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Jen Chaney
    60
    It's just unfortunate that a movie about such a daring man ultimately takes few risks.
  12. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    Who was Joseph Fiennes channeling when he chose this muddled tone? Obviously he was reluctant to gave a broad, inspirational performance of the kind you find in deliberately religious films.
  13. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    Plunges energetically into the 16th-century religious rebel's activities and philosophies. It dodges some significant issues in Luther's life, however, reducing its value as an educational film.
  14. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    50
    But for that one bright, incongruous yuk-fest in the classroom, Luther is deadly material, full of self-righteousness and devoid of balance.
  15. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Steven Winn
    50
    Disjointed.
  16. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Leslie Camhi
    50
    How did this rude monk, prey to depression and satanic hallucinations, change the course of history? Luther offers scant illumination, for the big brown eyes that served Joseph Fiennes so well in "Elizabeth" are little help with the spirit of Reformation.
  17. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    50
    Solid performances by Fiennes, Jonathan Firth, and a frail but funny Peter Ustinov keep this watchable.
  18. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    40
    Corny and irritatingly simplistic though this fast-paced biography of 16th-century German religious reformer Martin Luther may be, it's undeniably entertaining.
  19. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    40
    Joseph Fiennes smolders as young Luther, but it’s a performance that makes you wish instead that his older brother Ralph -– an actor who is one of the greatest at being able to portray inner torture and anguish -– were playing the part.
  20. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    40
    As the film veers uncertainly between meticulous historical recapitulation and shameless hokum, it brings enough characters to populate a mini-series. When the historical details become too clogged, the movie shamelessly overcompensates by wallowing in cheap sentimentality.
  21. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    40
    Proceeds like a stultifying history pageant rather than a movie with a pulse of its own.
  22. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    20
    British director Eric Till’s ghastly Euro-pudding co-production (with all the international accents and badly post-synchronized dialogue that implies) manages to make a travesty of its title subject.
  23. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    12
    An unholy mess.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. JeffC.
    10
    A wonderful depiction with only minor historical inaccuracies. A movie every Christian should watch.
  2. JaredC.
    6
    Based on the quality of Luther, it sadly doesn't reach the expectations of my personal discussions with society. It has a fine tone and starts out clueless, though eventually builds up momentum and suspense after gathering a substantial amount of information, that gets to the point of overload, and blasts with a finale that finishes with a breathtaking conclusion. It's a great churchgoer motion picture, and relates a lot to Renassaince studies which really overthinks me a bit. Everything is cause and Effect in Luther, it builds up a tremendous amount of character, and then that's the part when you start getting entertained, about 3 quarters way in. Which is the disappointing factor about it. Before all that, you just want a silent nap.… Full Review »
  3. TonyB.
    6
    Deciding how historically accurate "Luther" is is best left to those familiar with the religious and political intrigue in 16th Century Europe. For the rest of us, it is a generally well-told and sometimes even absorbing tale. Sir Peter Ustinov easily manages to steal all of his scenes; the same cannot be said for Joseph Fiennes. We have to take the script's word that Martin Luther was such an influential man because nothing in Fiennes' performance remotely suggests it.… Full Review »
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