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Gods and Monsters
EMAILPRINTLions Gate Films Inc.

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Christopher Bram (novel Father of Frankenstein)
Bill Condon
Directed by: Bill Condon
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 4, 1998
DVD: June 8, 1999
Running Time: 105 minutes, BW / Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for sexual material and language
Starring Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, and David Dukes
Hollywood history comes to life in this tale of the last days of Frankenstein director James Whale (McKellen). Long forgotten by the studios, Whale has retired to pursue painting and a life of leisure. Gods and Monsters explores his final fascination with a handsome gardener, Clayton Boone (Fraser). (Lions Gate Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Dreamgirls Kinsey
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
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...
San Francisco Examiner Bob Stephens
One of the most complex and powerful literary scripts in recent times.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
The film, built around McKellen's magnificent performance, is a sleek and deceptively artful work, a bio-pic that manages to encompass the whole of a man's rich life by concentrating solely on the final months of it.
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Achieves its exquisite tension--deepening beautifully from a "Death in Venice" setup to an imaginative meditation, on art and life, of uncommon sensitivity.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Elegantly witty and haunting . . . McKellen gives the performance of his career . . . and Brendan Fraser excels.
Film.com Peter Brunette
A strange and lovely combination of cinematic nostalgia and offbeat (gay) love story.
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
A profoundly moving human drama, a quasi love story about two lost men who form an unlikely friendship.
Washington Post Rita Kempley
In a performance of enormous complexity and nuance, emotions seem to race across McKellen's face like hurrying clouds.
Read Full Review >USA Today Susan Wloszczyna
Chances are, the more you love classic cinema, the more you will find Gods is your cup of tea.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
It has the most beautiful ending of any American film in years, a coda of reconciliation and remembrance set in a gentle L.A. rain.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Eminently watchable thanks to strong performances from its three leads (McKellen, Redgrave, Fraser).
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
There are so many colors to McKellen's performance, so many diverse emotions fleetingly play on his face, that resisting his art is out of the question. Better work by an actor will not be seen this year.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
What especially elevates it is the razor-sharp cleverness of McKellen's performance, which brings unusual fullness and feeling to a most unusual man.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer David Ehrenstein
This chamber drama is a deeply felt and oddly moving reverie on death and the process of taking stock of one's life.
Read Full Review >Variety Dennis Harvey
Doesnt always convince, particularly in the last lap. But its an engrossing, unusual, imaginatively executed bit of psychological gamesmanship nonetheless.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
Curiously, one of the film's stranger effects is that it's more convincing as a meditation on desire and Hollywood than as a biographical exploration.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
So much of the credit must be laid at the feet of Ian McKellen, whose portrait of Whale is a study in acting excellence.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
An engaging character study full of lyrical images and strong performances. It's an exceedingly well-made film.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Although the film doesn't probe Whale's personality as deeply as it might, the acting is excellent and movie buffs will enjoy its behind-the-scenes references and nostalgic film clips.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
A rich, multi- layered portrait of a director from Hollywood's Golden Age whose own life was as interesting as any of his movies.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Gods and Monsters is not a deep or powerful film, but it is a good-hearted one.
Read Full Review >Film.com Tom Keogh
Beyond the fantastic contrivances of Gods and Monsters, these performances are startlingly human.
The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
While McKellen's sharp performance provides the main attraction, the film wouldn't work without both Fraser, who brings something extra to a character who could easily have been a mere lunk, and director Bill Condon's careful integration of larger themes.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Jonathan Lethem
A showcase for a uniquely sympathetic virtuoso performance by legendary stage actor Ian McKellen in an otherwise minor film.
Read Full Review >Newsweek Andrea C. Basora
Condon's obvious attempts to draw parallels between Whale's life and his work tend to be heavy-handed, and detract from an otherwise intriguing film.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Amy Taubin
The relationship is touching, painful, revealing, and often funny, which is true of the film as a whole as well.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
As a portrait of a deliciously eccentric individual, Gods and Monsters features a vivid performance from Ian McKellen that makes you think not of James Whale but of Ian McKellen.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Brian M. Raftery
There's a great movie to be made with this story.
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
I'm too big a fan of director James Whale (1896-1957) to take a film about him lightly, and I'm afraid this speculative 1998 movie about his last days won't do.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
Lynn Redgrave is nearly incomprehensible as the housekeeper with some sort of housekeeperly accent. [Dec. 14, 1998]
Slate David Edelstein
Psychologically thin, artistically flabby, and symbolically opaque.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Haley A. gave it a10:
Amazing film! Probably one of the best films about alternative lifestyles ever made, and surely one of the most genuine and understanding film dealing with that subject. Ian McKellen is wonderful as James Whale, and, I think, should have won the Oscar that he lost out on. Brendan Fraser delivers one of his best performances, and was sadly overlooked by many critics. This is a very touching story about two lonely men (a rich, gay, former film director, and a straight, ex-marine, gardener) that form a friendship and help to mend each others wounds, so to speak. If you haven't seen this film, give it a look. It's a beautiful work of art that has gone somewhat unnoticed.
Pat C. gave it a 5:
OK, I watched it. Didn't want to, but was told it was good. Fooled again. OK, some people live this way, and McKellen didn't seem to have any trouble with the role. Since the dialogue interaction was competent, I score it neutral.
[Anonymous] gave it a 9:
Great, except for Brendan Fraser.
Dale C. gave it a 9:
I actually thought Fraser did a hell of a job! Ian McKellen was marvelous, though.
[Anonymous] gave it an 8:
Staggering!
