79
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfIn 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.
- 100SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirFiennes' 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.
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinFiennes 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.
- 80Village VoiceVillage VoiceIn 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.
- 80New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierHere, 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.
- 80The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisThen 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.
- 80Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyLos Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyIf 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.
- 65MovielineStephanie ZacharekMovielineStephanie ZacharekFiennes 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.
- 63Slant MagazineNick SchagerSlant MagazineNick SchagerThough 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.
- 63USA TodayClaudia PuigUSA TodayClaudia PuigVanessa Redgrave nimbly plays Coriolanus' mother, Volumnia, a blend of formidable stage mother and a puppeteering power behind the throne.