Charlotte Gray
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: December 28, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
17
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Has an intoxicating, old-fashioned feel about it. We are instantly lost in the period, thanks to cinematographer Dion Beebe's almost haloed images and Joseph Bennett's authentic, restrained production design. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Charlotte Gray is not a subtle movie, but it is an honorable and surprisingly gripping one. Read full review
80
SalonCharles Taylor
Lush, even juicy entertainment. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Displays so much promise with its beautiful cinematography and superb portrayal by Cate Blanchett that you scarcely notice (or even care) that the story is a bit thin. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
An old-fashioned romantic adventure film strongly acted, ably directed and written with stolid sobriety, the film feels, save for a few moments of verbal or physical intensity, as if it could have been made 60 years ago with Ingrid Bergman in the lead. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Cate Blanchett has the title role, and she does wonders with it, bringing a degree of passion but also suggesting something essentially unevolved in Charlotte's character. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
This is a movie that, for all its often high intelligence and skill, seems emotionally underdone, bogged down in tony literary and cinematic cliches.
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
From a purely technical perspective, Charlotte Gray is expertly made -- the cinematography and music are evocative, and lead actress Cate Blanchett has no problem holding our attention. But, while Armstrong gets the notes right, she fails to play them with inspiration. Read full review
60
Film ThreatMichael Dequina
The radiant Blanchett makes Charlotte's individual journey from lovelorn lady to independent woman believable and involving, and that's ultimately what counts the most -- even if the destination is less than ideal. Read full review
50
Washington PostRita Kempley
Those who do go with the fantasy are probably hopeless romantics. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Not a movie, it's a museum catalog of gorgeously rendered portraits and landscapes. What a crashing disappointment. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A frustratingly inert story, a bookend to last year's wooden ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin.'' Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Armstrong is fortunate to have the luminous Blanchett, who, along with her equally fine supporting cast, helps compensate for what the film lacks. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The story has inherent emotional power, but Jeremy Brock's formula-bound screenplay rarely soars beyond cliches. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Blanchett, Crudup and Gambon stand above and somehow apart from the absurdities of the screenplay. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Director Gillian Armstrong drains all the emotional energy out of the people who dot her movie's lovely landscape. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's ultimately just numb, a sober wartime romance roused only by Blanchett's intensity and Crudup's passionate swings between righteous anger and moral zeal. The rest is just tired melodrama. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
The narrative is unexpectedly sleepy, excepting the occasional flashy set piece. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The setting and circumstances of the war overwhelm the personal story and diminish the dilemma of the title character's love life. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Rarely has a movie that looked so good on paper fallen so flat as the aptly named Charlotte Gray. It's not a bad movie. Bad movies have more flavor. Read full review
40
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A bland and dour screen version of Sebastian Faulks' highly engrossing bestseller. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
I never thought that a thoughtful director like Gillian Armstrong would get trapped in such Euro-nonsense, but I guess there's a first time for everything. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Charlotte Gray, for all Blanchett's radiance and intelligence in the title role, is a bore. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Undone by Blanchett's dull, wooden delivery. She's the pap that kills the pulp the rest of the film is bellowing out to be. Read full review
40
New Times (L.A.)Jean Oppenheimer
Never rises above the level of a 1950s-era adolescent romance novel. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
It isn't as ridiculous as this year's other version of a local best seller set during WWII ("Captain Corelli's Mandolin"), but it's arguably even less entertaining. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The movie works so diligently to convey a spirit of heroic uplift and fails so completely that it feels like a tragic misfire. Read full review
20
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Director Gillian Armstrong turns Sebastian Faulks' pungent novel about World War II into a soporific. Read full review
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