Coriolanus
The Weinstein Company | Release Date: December 2, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
1
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMar 30, 2012
That action is bloody, but Fiennes' choices as director are unassailably apt and artful. Coriolanus is a triumph. Read full review
100
SalonAndrew O'HehirDec 1, 2011
Fiennes' crackerjack Coriolanus stays true to the clever, almost mean-spirited twists and turns of the story, and preserves the authentic flavor and texture of the language. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterRay BennettDec 1, 2011
Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in Coriolanus as William Shakespeare's Rambo in a production that delivers heavyweight screen acting at its best. Read full review
100
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 29, 2011
In lesser hands, this could have easily been some seriously detestable John Wayne jingoism. But via Fiennes, the film is a spiky and complex counterweight to Hollywood sentiment and indie cynicism alike. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsJan 18, 2012
As played by Ralph Fiennes in his own cinematic adaptation of the play, Coriolanus' military genius makes him a figure of awe, but it's his near-absence of empathy that makes him terrifying. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumDec 7, 2011
With its warring factions, citizen uprisings, guerrilla insurgencies, political intrigue, bloody warfare, family tensions, and homoerotic subtext, Coriolanus is one of the year's best political thrillers. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNov 28, 2011
Fiennes and Logan haven't made a definitive Coriolanus, but they've made a sensationally gripping one. They have the pulse of the play, its firm martial beats and its messy political clatter. They tell a damn good story. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldConnie OgleMar 22, 2012
Coriolanus is not by any stretch a hero, and yet Fiennes makes him magnetic, a warrior you can't look away from even when you might want to. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaFeb 16, 2012
Brian Cox is especially good, and slippery, as Menenius, a Roman senator. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 16, 2012
Coriolanus leaves an acrid, unfinished taste. Fiennes, making his directorial debut, gets into the meat of the thing, and he takes advantage of the bluntness of the text; even Shakespeare newcomers will be able to follow along. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 2, 2012
You buy the concept, from start to finish, because it feels strong and purposeful and in sync with Shakespeare's own vision of a malleable, fickle populace and a leader raised by the ultimate stage mother. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertFeb 1, 2012
One of the pleasures of Fiennes' film is that the screenplay by John Logan ("Hugo," "Gladiator") makes room for as much of Shakespeare's language as possible. I would have enjoyed more, because such actors as Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox let the words roll trippingly off the tongue. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 19, 2012
Think "The Hurt Locker," which shares a cinematographer in Barry Ackroyd with no damage to the Bard's bruising poetry. Neat trick. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelMar 10, 2012
As a portrait of modern warfare, politics and propaganda, Coriolanus is intriguing, even if the gritty action sequences don't quite measure up to the realism of "The Hurt Locker." Read full review
80
SlateDana StevensJan 19, 2012
It finds a way to make the play's rich, dense literary language (just before the climactic battle, one character accuses another of "breaking his oath and resolution like/A twist of rotten silk") sound as terse and urgent as the dialogue in a tightly plotted action thriller. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 19, 2012
Martius comes to a bad end, while Mr. Fiennes achieves a great beginning. As a director, his grasp exceeds his daring reach, and his performance stands as a chilling exemplar of psychomartial ferocity. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie ErrigoJan 16, 2012
Exciting, ironic, with assured direction, accomplished performances and the tension of topical themes, this is Shakespeare as relevant as you like it. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 1, 2011
If you give yourself over to that clash of style and sensibility, something magical happens as the power, the prescience and the precision of Shakespeare's words take hold of modern problems. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 1, 2011
Then too there's the sheer pleasure of hearing these words spoken by an actor like Mr. Fiennes, whose phrasing is so brilliant, you might be tempted to close your eyes if his physical performance weren't equally mesmerizing. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 1, 2011
Here, in his best performance since "Spider," Fiennes plays the snarling, entitled general Caius Martius Coriolanus, whose bloody brow and bald head are stained with what's left of his soldiers. Read full review
80
Village VoiceEric HynesNov 29, 2011
In the case of Ralph Fiennes's adaptation of Coriolanus - the transposition to present day is confusing and counterproductive, dulling the impact of an otherwise fierce, often unbearably immediate production. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovFeb 29, 2012
Immensely entertaining, Coriolanus is chock-full o' gore and the contemporary trappings of a man and a land divided, both from without and from within. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 2, 2012
Fiennes thrives under his own direction, but such is his sense of balance that everyone else thrives, too. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJan 19, 2012
It's a film of vigorous performances and provocative modern resonances, though it sometimes struggles to grapple with a grim, politically ambiguous, 400-year-old play. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 12, 2012
Coriolanus deserves to be seen, however, especially among those who enjoy Shakespeare without considering themselves purists. It's violent, bloody, fast-paced, and powerfully acted. And, if the language represents a barrier of sorts, it's worth remembering that some of the greatest phrases in history derive from Shakespeare's texts. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJan 16, 2012
It is the most oppressive of the great tragedies, and "Macbeth" aside, the leanest, and the task that Fiennes has set himself is to liberate it from the theatrical while preserving the dramatic bite. In that, he succeeds with brio. [23 Jan. 2012, p.86]
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 20, 2012
The greatest performance, though, is Vanessa Redgrave's as Martius's blood-lusting mother, Volumnia. It's an extraordinarily powerful piece of acting, all controlled rage. When, in the end, that rage erupts, her vehemence splits the screen. Read full review
65
MovielineStephanie ZacharekDec 1, 2011
Fiennes works hard to keep the rhythm going: He stages hand-to-hand combat sequences and knife fights as if he were making a smart action movie, not adapting Shakespeare, which is precisely the point. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia PuigDec 1, 2011
Vanessa Redgrave nimbly plays Coriolanus' mother, Volumnia, a blend of formidable stage mother and a puppeteering power behind the throne. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick SchagerNov 28, 2011
Though his film's feel is pure Iraq and Afghanistan, Fiennes doesn't push those parallels unduly, and his central performances prove clear, nuanced, and incisive. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesFeb 2, 2012
Visually and dramatically it works well - it's Shakespeare by way of "Black Hawk Down" - but as an allegory of modern-day geopolitics it doesn't really go anywhere. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithDec 2, 2011
Moreover, in attempting to update the play to a buzzing CNN world, Ralph Fiennes proves that as a director, he makes a fine actor. Read full review
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