Far from the Madding Crowd
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: May 1, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critics
Positive:
32
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Daily NewsGraham FullerMay 1, 2015
Director Thomas Vinterberg’s romantic rollercoaster honors Hardy’s rustic vibe. Remarkably, too, he’s made a thoroughly modern film anyone can relate to — it’s like a “what a woman wants” discussion set in Victorian times. It’s also an instant classic. Read full review
100
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 30, 2015
The latest version of Hardy's 1874 classic works on all levels. Foremost, it is brilliantly directed by Thomas Vinterberg,who also made two other masterful dramas, 2012's "The Huntand" 1998's "The Celebration." Read full review
100
SalonAndrew O'HehirApr 30, 2015
He (Vinterberg) has accomplished something that is both extremely simple and extremely difficult: This is a gorgeous literary adaptation true to its period and its source material in almost every respect, largely shot in the “Hardy country” along the south coast of England. It’s also a film that feels charged with life and hunger and romantic-erotic energy. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 29, 2015
If it isn’t as decorous and deft as the Jane Austen romances of an earlier literary (and cinematic) age, the longing is still there in a story that feels more lived-in, brutish and realistic. Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMay 13, 2015
The movie is as quietly assured as its heroine, Bathsheba Everdene, gracefully played by Carey Mulligan. Read full review
83
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthApr 30, 2015
Handsomely mounted, this is a period drama in which both unspoken demands and stated appetites drive the emotions that simmer below the surface from the first frame. And though this doesn’t transcend what you might expect from the genre, few movies are delivered with this much craft and care. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 29, 2015
With a steely resilience burning beneath her delicate, creamy complexion, Carey Mulligan brings remarkable nuance and a rich inner life to the role of Bathsheba Everdene. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 7, 2015
Director Thomas Vinterberg and Carey Mulligan, who plays Bathsheba Everdene, bring exciting life to the story. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 1, 2015
It’s a wholly respectable adaptation, though perhaps a flash or two more of wildness wouldn’t have gone amiss. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid EhrlichMay 1, 2015
Director Thomas Vinterberg (The Celebration) has always enjoyed thumbing his nose at stuffy cinematic conventions, and while he’s obviously enchanted by Hardy’s text, his movie is fun because he’s keen not to give it too much respect. Read full review
80
CineVueAllie GemmillMay 1, 2015
Vinterberg's Far From the Madding Crowd is a wondrous feat: at turns tender, dramatic, fragile and bold, it's the definitive adaptation. Read full review
80
Total FilmJane Crowther Apr 28, 2015
Fresh enough to engage newcomers, respectful enough to appease scholars, this is – for genre fans – pure period-drama porn. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie ErrigoApr 27, 2015
Extremely well done and well acted, it’s an attractive, appealing, involving adaptation, just not as iconic as the ’60s film. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesMay 6, 2015
She’s (Mulligan) got the best lopsided smile in the business, and she uses it well to size up her three bachelors. They’re just no match for her. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 7, 2015
Far From the Madding Crowd is a Masterpiece Theatre version of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel, shot with sumptuous taste and care, rife with emotions repressed and unbound, and featuring expertly nuanced performances from a tony, mostly British cast. It will greatly please discerning audiences while causing Hardy to spin discreetly in his grave. That’s a fair trade-off, especially if the movie sends you back to the book. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 7, 2015
It’s Belgian actor Schoenaerts who will leave the target audience atwitter. Seemingly incapable of cracking a smile, he fits securely in the stoic-farmer tradition that stretches from John Wayne in “The Quiet Man” to Russell Crowe in “The Water Diviner.” Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie OgleMay 7, 2015
The film never allows any of its characters to fall into stereotype; they are complex creatures, full of anger and disappointment and passion, and even the weakest among them is not bereft of honor. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 7, 2015
I can't help but wish this new Far From the Madding Crowd came with the thrill of interpretive discovery, the way Jane Campion gave Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady" a good shaking-up or, more conventionally, the way James Ivory mainstreamed E.M. Forester in "A Room With a View" and "Howards End." Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 6, 2015
There's nothing here to astound or surprise; the movie neither exceeds nor falls below expectations. Those who love Hardy and/or the less-filmy romances of his era will derive the most from Far from the Madding Crowd. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireMay 1, 2015
Whether his film is lush or rolling in the muck, it always has a tactile quality that makes it accessible, which is also true of the performances from his (mostly) well-chosen cast. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMay 1, 2015
Vinterberg may rush the final act, but he gets pitch-perfect performances from Schoenaerts, Sheen and Sturridge and brings out the wild side in Mulligan, who can hold a close-up like nobody's business. She's a live wire in a movie that knows how to stir up a classic for the here and now. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryApr 30, 2015
The latest film adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd will delight fans of period dramas. It checks off the required boxes with solid acting, gorgeous cinematography and all the frustrating, glorious emotional restraint that you expect from a romance set in Victorian England. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartApr 29, 2015
Vinterberg aces the metaphor-heavy scene in which Troy demonstrates his swordsmanship for an inexperienced, dazzled Bathsheba. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedApr 29, 2015
Its virtues are many and this filmed version of Hardy’s fourth novel is well worth seeing. It rises head and shoulders above most of what we’ve been seeing lately. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 30, 2015
The most obvious thing to say about Far From the Madding Crowd is also the most bizarre, given the source material. It’s buoyant, pleasant and easygoing. That’s a recommendation of sorts, and also an expression of disappointment. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 30, 2015
Between the sheer on-screen beauty and the finely wrought performances of Mulligan and Schoenaerts, Far from the Madding Crowd has its appeal. Yet like unrequited love, one can't help but lament what might have been. Read full review
70
The DissolveMike D'AngeloApr 30, 2015
It’s refreshing to see a prestige costume drama so interested in its heroine that it treats “happily ever after” as an afterthought. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyApr 2, 2015
Given the challenge of solving a problem like Bathsheba, Mulligan succeeds, more than Christie did, in providing an answer. Read full review
70
VarietyScott FoundasApr 2, 2015
What does register at every turn is a vibrant sense of time and place that pulls us into Hardy’s bygone world even when the drama falters. Read full review
67
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanMay 28, 2015
Sometimes seeing a movie throws the source material into sharper relief.... Watching the textually faithful film adaptation by director Thomas Vinterberg and writer David Nicholls, though, the piece comes off more as a glossy, well-acted romance novel. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyApr 30, 2015
Feels like a missed opportunity to do a country romantic melodrama in grand style. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoApr 26, 2015
The lack of real analysis or consideration leaves this perilously close to a Goldilocks-style depiction of privileged female indecision. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMay 15, 2015
Vinterberg's Far From the Madding Crowd is a lovely adaptation. What's more, it's downright entertaining. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneApr 27, 2015
Hardy gave his heroine a symphonic range, and all an actress can do is pick out certain tones and strains — the fluted whimsy by which Bathsheba is occasionally stirred, or the brassiness of her anger. Julie Christie was the more accomplished flirt, and her beauty was composed of fire and air, whereas Mulligan relies more darkly on earth and water. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 2, 2015
There is ultimately something very unbalanced in this movie: the female lead and one male support are outstanding; another supporting male is fine and the third is frankly uncomfortable and miscast. Read full review
60
Screen InternationalFionnuala HalliganApr 2, 2015
It’s a title to be admired, certainly, but for all its visual fireworks, Far From The Madding Crowd doesn’t truly ignite an emotional spark. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyApr 29, 2015
To be fair, Far From The Madding Crowd isn’t the kind of novel that lends itself to adaptation; it was originally published as a monthly serial, and still reads that way. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 30, 2015
An adaptation not firing on all cylinders. Read full review
50
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekApr 28, 2015
As written by Hardy, Bathsheba is bracingly whole and human; here she’s been outlined, and thus circumscribed, by an eager student’s highlighter. Read full review
40
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeApr 30, 2015
Far From the Madding Crowd will no doubt captivate future generations of tenth-graders who couldn’t be bothered to read the book, but it flattens the complex characters and grand scope of Hardy’s novel into an airless and overly truncated CliffsNotes version. Read full review
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