Rob Roy
United Artists | Release Date: April 7, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
11
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Powered by a Scottish writer, a Scottish director, and the rugged beauty of the Scottish Highlands, this is clearly a labour of love, and the passion gets right up on the screen. Read full review
90
NewsweekJack Kroll
A welcome paradox--an intelligent, rousing adventure for grown-up kids. [17 Apr 1995, p.66]
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
As embodied by Liam Neeson, Rob Roy is a tremendous protagonist -- a naive man whose belief in honor and whose love for a woman, family, and clan make him a figure to cheer for. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This is a splendid, rousing historical adventure, an example of what can happen when the best direction, acting, writing and technical credits are brought to bear on what might look like shopworn material. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A rousingly square romantic epic spiced with dashes of sex and bloodlust; it's "Robin Hood" meets "The Last of the Mohicans" meets "Death Wish". Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff(not credited)
Rob Roy succeeds more as an old-fashioned romance (nice to see Jessica Lange, instead of some babe du jour, as Rob's fiercely proud wife), than as an action epic. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Thanks to screenwriter Alan Sharp's fast-moving scenario featuring a healthy array of rape, pillage, burning, deceit, swordfighting, treachery and murder, it's a watchable hoot. Read full review
60
EmpireAndrew Collins
Braveheart in a new kilt. Not exactly original, then, but worth a look. Read full review
60
The New YorkerTerence Rafferty
Although it's an agreeable movie, Caton-Jones's direction is too discreet -- too civilized -- to stir the viewer's blood. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Rob Roy is best watched for local color and for its hearty, hot-blooded stars. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
Like a coffee-table book, it looks inviting and teases you with sumptuous photography but leaves you cold. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
You always know where it's going even as it meanders for two and a half hours getting there. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Sir Walter Scott's novel is turned inside-out by Michael Caton-Jones's movie, which transforms the title character from an elusive rogue into a conventional hero who swaggers across the screen from beginning to end. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
This handsome, not unappealing look at a Scottish legend of nearly 300 years ago is too solemn, wooden and dour for its own good, and feels oddly of another era. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Casting, in fact, is Rob Roy's dominant virtue, a hedge against its overlong 2 1/4-hour running time and some initial reluctance to get rolling. [7 Apr 1995, p.01.D]
40
Austin ChronicleHollis Chacona
Part historical narrative, part epic romance, and part swashbuckling adventure, Rob Roy is overly cultivated, resulting in a stiff, unnatural hybrid that's quite lovely to look at, but lacks spontaneity. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Working with cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub, director Caton-Jones has givenRob Roy a beautiful wide-screen look, filled with gorgeous vistas. But this film is like a color Xerox copy of the real thing: hard to tell from an original until you look closely at the details. Read full review
30
Washington PostRita Kempley
Writer Alan Sharp gets so caught up in the legend and the lush language that he doesn't seem to know he's written "Death Wish" in kilts. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Neeson simply has no spark here. He is good and honest and honorable until your face turns blue. He's just no fun. Read full review
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