Luther
R.S. Entertainment | Release Date: September 26, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
14
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Fiennes has imagined and created from within. His Luther is not the thunderer we might expect, but he is, wondrously, the incarnation of a man passionate for God and angry with mundane intercessions. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Veteran British director Eric Till otherwise does a credible job of sweeping us through this huge life, and his eye for detail combines with the Oscar-worthy production design and a succession of striking Eastern European locations to create a rich visual tapestry of the Middle Ages. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Overall, Luther does a satisfying job of restoring humanity to a woodcut icon. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
Rising above the throng is the great wreck of Sir Peter Ustinov, who, as the canny, saucy German Prince Frederick, distinguishes both himself and the movie. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneEllen Fox
Aside from a couple of unintelligible conversations with himself, there's barely any God here. The film would rather just be inclusive. Luther might have wanted it that way, but as moviegoers, it's hard not to want more. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
An entertaining history lesson. That is, a history lesson that synopsizes and simplifies a complex life and complicated times into easily digestible panels of action, intrigue, martyrdom and sticking it to the papacy. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The film winds up stranding us in a desperate wilderness of collapse and betrothal. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
With Joseph Fiennes as the conflicted, frequently self-hating Luther, this historical drama/biopic offers a fairly thorough overview of the period (although it's weak on the "good deeds" angle) but is somewhat dry and weighted with significance. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The unimposing Fiennes may not suggest the burly Luther's plain-talking peasant background, but he at least captures the charisma. Read full review
60
Washington PostJen Chaney
It's just unfortunate that a movie about such a daring man ultimately takes few risks. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
After a summer of numbing mindlessness, there is something frankly refreshing about a movie that deals even superficially with as significant a figure as the rebellious 16th century theologian Martin Luther, one of the founders of Protestantism and the man who put the reform in the Reformation. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Plunges energetically into the 16th-century religious rebel's activities and philosophies. It dodges some significant issues in Luther's life, however, reducing its value as an educational film. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
But for that one bright, incongruous yuk-fest in the classroom, Luther is deadly material, full of self-righteousness and devoid of balance. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Solid performances by Fiennes, Jonathan Firth, and a frail but funny Peter Ustinov keep this watchable. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Who was Joseph Fiennes channeling when he chose this muddled tone? Obviously he was reluctant to gave a broad, inspirational performance of the kind you find in deliberately religious films. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleSteven Winn
Disjointed. Read full review
50
Village VoiceLeslie Camhi
How did this rude monk, prey to depression and satanic hallucinations, change the course of history? Luther offers scant illumination, for the big brown eyes that served Joseph Fiennes so well in "Elizabeth" are little help with the spirit of Reformation. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
As the film veers uncertainly between meticulous historical recapitulation and shameless hokum, it brings enough characters to populate a mini-series. When the historical details become too clogged, the movie shamelessly overcompensates by wallowing in cheap sentimentality. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Corny and irritatingly simplistic though this fast-paced biography of 16th-century German religious reformer Martin Luther may be, it's undeniably entertaining. Read full review
40
VarietyRobert Koehler
Proceeds like a stultifying history pageant rather than a movie with a pulse of its own. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Joseph Fiennes smolders as young Luther, but it’s a performance that makes you wish instead that his older brother Ralph -– an actor who is one of the greatest at being able to portray inner torture and anguish -– were playing the part. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
British director Eric Till’s ghastly Euro-pudding co-production (with all the international accents and badly post-synchronized dialogue that implies) manages to make a travesty of its title subject. Read full review
12
New York PostLou Lumenick
An unholy mess. Read full review
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