64
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe French Lieutenant’s Woman is a beautiful film to look at, and remarkably well-acted.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThough occasionally jarring, the intercutting between the parallel stories, aided immeasurably by Streep's disparate characterizations, succeeds in conveying the complexity of Fowles' novel.
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyThe film's beauty is dazzling. It stands with—or perhaps a little ahead of—Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon and Roman Polanski's Tess, but it also must be conceded, quickly and without too stern a reproach, that there is less to The French Lieutenant's Woman than meets the dazzled eye.
- 70NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenThe French Lieutenant's Woman is one of the most civilized and provocative movies of the year, but it falls just short of greatness. Perhaps Reisz and Pinter are too innately reticent to wring the last drop of emotional power from Fowles's story. [21 Sep 1981, p.96]
- 60EmpireKim NewmanEmpireKim NewmanAesthetically beautiful and superbly acted, a sure sign of things to come from the leads.
- 60Washington PostGary ArnoldWashington PostGary ArnoldSufficiently attractive and absorbing to sustain the fond delusion that Charles' pursuit of the mystifying Sarah might culminate in a revealing, conclusive confrontation. [02 Oct 1981, p.C1]
- 60The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelMeryl Streep gives an immaculate, technically accomplished performance as Sarah Woodruff, the romantic mystery woman of John Fowles' novel, but she isn't mysterious. We're not fascinated by Sarah; she's so distanced from us that all we can do is observe how meticulous Streep -- and everything else about the movie -- is.
- 50Washington PostWashington PostA rather poetic costume drama jarringly interrupted by bits of modern banality. [02 Oct 1981, p.17]
- 50The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottTwo great beginnings disappoint in the end. If the novel is a dying form, film treatments are the poison. [21 Sep 1981]