Stage Beauty
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: October 8, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
13
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
Those who thought "Shakespeare In Love" was as good as it gets in intelligent costume romantic comedy will find that director Richard Eyre and writer Jeffrey Hatcher have taken the form to a higher level. Read full review
90
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Crudup is whole. He creates the man who has pride in what he does, who is suddenly stripped of the work and the pride; and who makes his way, somewhat painfully, to another sort of pride. His story is a small but acute poignancy in the history of the theater, and Crudup realizes it completely. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
It's not as clever, or as consistently funny, or as well-cast as "Shakespeare in Love," but Richard Eyre's Stage Beauty is the most fun I've had with the Bard since that 1998 Oscar winner. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A rich, shining valentine to the British theater and the eternal joys of Shakespeare, Read full review
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
This skillfully acted, handsomely crafted frock piece toys cleverly with gender confusion and sexual identity. Read full review
80
EmpireAlan Morrison
A film that, despite being about theatre itself, is remarkably cinematic and entirely unafraid to revel in the English language. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The movie blows a fresh wind of disrespect, high drama and lush romanticism through that stolidly middlebrow subgenre, the period drama. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Sly and witty. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Expertly directed by Richard Eyre (Iris) from Jeffrey Hatcher's play, the film is bawdy fun. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
In the popularity sweepstakes, Stage Beauty may earn top honors, outdoing the overrated "Shakespeare in Love" as a dramatic comedy about life and love in an era more naive - but hardly more innocent - than our own. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Sometimes teeters on the verge of going completely over the top, but it's mostly saved by its own self-awareness. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Beauty is about two-thirds the serious-edged romp it would like to be, which still leaves a lot of room for tony fun. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Claire Danes is as fresh as running water in this role, exhibiting the clarity and directness that has become her strength; her characters tend to know who they are, and why. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Has a weird, compelling energy, fueled by a deliciously dynamic cast, a cheerfully bawdy and odd story line and a refreshing, impossible romance. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
It's a marvelous premise, and Crudup's serpentine performance has a venomous grace. But Jeffrey Hatcher's screenplay too often sacrifices psychological insight for bogus theatricality. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Crudup, whose features have the appropriate delicacy, plays Ned with complete conviction; it’s difficult to imagine anyone else succeeding as well. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
An entertainment as billowy as a Shakespearean nurse's sail-shaped hat. Read full review
70
Washington PostTeresa Wiltz
Ultimately this is a celebration of the theater, a big, wet kiss to the craft of acting and the artists who inhabited London's early stages. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
The design is gorgeous, the dialogue delicious, and even the supporting characters prove resonant. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The movie's sexual politics couldn't be more regressive--Crudup learns to be a man in the sack as well as on the boards--but it's still a competent middlebrow costume drama. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
For those to whom life is but a stage, this will be sweet, sweet candy; to those of us destined to be their audience, it's a satisfying, if flawed, look behind the curtain. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
For every thing that Stage Beauty does right, it fumbles at least one other element, resulting in a movie-going experience that is of the glass half-full/half-empty variety. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
At best, the film makes a more convincing case for the adventure of artificiality: Take Billy Crudup, add a little rouge to his cheeks and suddenly: Voilà, the guy can act. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
In the end, viewers are left with a nagging feeling that this was a long way to go for the incongruous pleasure of watching 20th-century method acting on a 17th-century stage. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Yet Crudup does good, mercurial work despite a silly surfer-dude haircut. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
As drama, Stage Beauty is both timorous and ungainly, words that might also describe Ms. Danes's performance. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
The film is an intriguing and hugely theatrical experience whose effectiveness is greatly enhanced by gorgeous period costumes and set design. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A celebration of the theater that tends to drag the moment it's out of drag. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
There's an enjoyably literate style here and some humorous moments. Read full review
50
PremiereStaff (Not Credited)
The result is more bawdy diversion than historical fable. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
As historical speculation, it's clever enough. As a film, it glows with flop-sweat. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Over-orchestrated and underdeveloped interpretation of Jeffrey Hatcher's play. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
The film rarely matches Crudup's performance, appearing confused itself about whether it's farce or drama. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The wigs, hats and gowns look realistic, gorgeous and utterly right. In a vapid confection like Stage Beauty, perhaps that's what really counts. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Both interesting and insufferable. Read full review
40
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Second-rate bawdiness--that is, bawdiness without the wit of Boccaccio or Shakespeare or even Tom Stoppard--is more infantile than funny, and I’m not sure that the American playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, who concocted this piece for the stage and then adapted it into a movie, is even second-rate. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Most frustrating, Stage Beauty fumbles XX/XY politics at every turn. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
In the end, Stage Beauty is in over its mediocre head. Read full review
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