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Upcoming Release Calendar
38
12 Rounds Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, The
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MPAA RATING: R for strong graphic battles, a rape and some language.
Starring Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway, and Dustin Hoffman
As young girl in the 15th century, Joan (Jovovich) receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.
| GENRE(S): | War |
| WRITTEN BY: |
Luc Besson
Andrew Birkin |
| DIRECTED BY: | Luc Besson |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 4, 2000 Video: April 4, 2000 Theatrical: November 12, 1999 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 148 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | France |
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...
The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Pat C. gave it a 3:
Jovovich faithfully re-creates the legendary maid, but in a butch kind of way, making it less believable the maid was a real person. The Joan in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" would probably have been more motivational to the troops. This film is continually at odds over what pragamtically occurred vs. what the hand of God reportedly wrought. Dunaway is clueless. Malkovich's smoldering dementia turns thoughtful, as if he is realizing the movie is out of his depth and he is nuts for showing up in it. Hoffman is comatose as an expressionless nose poking out of a burlap robe. The story, the meaning, and the lead character were all predestined to go up in smoke, and this picture was completed with the enthusiasm of a cast and crew that had a premonition somebody would be taken to the woodshed afterwards.
Yoon C. gave it a 0:
Luc Besson tries to outdo Hollywood by making the dumbest historical epic yet. Joan here is like the obnoxious heroine of La Femme Nikita, a perpetual PMS queen. It's Joan of Arc as bitch that barks. Major actors in minor scenes are all wasted shamefully.
Dave C. gave it a 3:
Horribley shot, pretentious, boring and ugly. The TV series was better than this.
Lorks-A-Lordy, My Mulroneycakes Is On Fire gave it a 1:
There was a version of this a few years back with Ingrid Bergman - which was largely a love letter to Ingrid. Now we have this, which is largely a love letter to Milla Jovovich, made worse by the fact that a) Milla doesn't look the part, b) Milla doesn't act the part, & c) it's twenty years long. Also, it couldn't BE less historically accurate if it added a rainstorm at the end and let Joan survive. Where did that "The Messenger" come from, by the way? Over here it's just called "Joan of Arc". Still rubbish, though.
L. Fas gave it a 7:
I liked the action and the filming. I did not like the silly church scene drinking the wine. Hoffman was a dud I thought Joan was played well. She seemed simple and naive. She yelled and screamed, but I think that is how she probably was. The spiritual aspect was subtle The final torch scene was filmed very well.
Allen W. gave it a 0:
As a historian, I provide a review (soon to be back online) of this wretchedly inaccurate film as part of the site where I publish translations and other research into Joan of Arc's life: http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/
[Anonymous] gave it a 4:
Man, did this movie stink.
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