Robert the Bruce
Screen Media Films | Release Date (Streaming): April 24, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
RogerEbert.comNell MinowApr 24, 2020
Robert the Bruce is gorgeously filmed by cinematographer John Garrett, making the most of every exquisitely lit crag of the Scottish countryside. Read full review
60
The GuardianLeslie FelperinApr 21, 2020
It takes a good hour or so to get going, but then it builds up some watchable spectacle – although Gray goes way overboard with the moody, fireside lighting, and the rousing orchestral score gets all ceilidh-cutesy for the happy montages. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 27, 2020
Robert the Bruce is too long by at least a half-hour for the surprisingly slight tale it has to tell. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanApr 24, 2020
McGowan knows how to invest ire with intelligence, and he has mastered the art of making riding a horse look like a form of strutting. When he’s onscreen, the film vibrates. When you’re watching MacFadyen’s Robert, it swells with nobility and deflates at the same time. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinApr 24, 2020
If I’ve made Robert the Bruce sound laughable, I’ve misrepresented it. It’s not bad at all. Though he is unusually uncharismatic, Macfadyen (who co-wrote the script) is an excellent actor, and Richard Gray directs ably. But that word — “ably.” I never used it before. It’s the bottom of the neutral zone, before you dip into negative territory. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisApr 23, 2020
There’s a pleasing humility and introspection to this Bruce — a ruler no longer sure if his patriotic purpose is worth the carnage. His joints may be stiffer than his resolve; but, in placing the warrior temporarily aside, Macfadyen and his director have helped us more clearly to see the man. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichApr 23, 2020
Robert the Bruce seeks to explore the relationship between a ruler and their people, offering intimacy and personal concern as the best defense against a puppet government. Unlike its namesake, however, this cold and slapdash costume party of a film never figures out how to unite its many scattered parts. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerApr 21, 2020
For an uncertainly paced and fabricated historical side quest, much of Robert The Bruce is painlessly watchable. Read full review
40
Time OutDave CalhounApr 21, 2020
There are rousing landscape shots, a fair amount of bone-crunching, and a dash of brooding patriotism – and a welcome attempt to look at history from the view of ordinary folk – but the storytelling is downbeat and basic. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 21, 2020
Unless you are a direct descendant of Robert the Bruce, or perhaps part of the Macfayden clan, you’re better off letting this particular version of history get lost in the sands of time. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckApr 24, 2020
Suffers mightily from its limited budget and narrative scope. Read full review
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