The Nutcracker
Freestyle Releasing | Release Date: November 24, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
18
METASCORE
Overwhelming dislike based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
3
Negative:
14
Watch Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumNov 27, 2010
Terry Gilliam-ish territory here, spiked with imagery from Holocaust nightmares and drug trips. Attention, university film clubs: Here's your cult-ready midnight-movie programming. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradyNov 27, 2010
To call this so-called family film dreadful is an understatement. Jaw-droppingly awful on almost every level, this is a movie to avoid. Read full review
45
MovielineMichelle OrangeNov 27, 2010
Somewhere in there is a little blonde girl and her dreamy princeling, but damned if I could see them through the dreck. Read full review
40
VarietyJohn AndersonNov 22, 2010
The familiarity of the music may actually be a disadvantage; the ear wants the melodies to conform to one's memory of them, but instead they've been tortured into compliance with the needs of a standard movie musical. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia PuigNov 23, 2010
Who had the lamebrained idea for a post-apocalyptic 3-D Nutcracker that is lacking any trace of ballet? Read full review
30
The New York TimesMike HaleNov 23, 2010
The talented Ms. Fanning gives a capable performance, and Mr. Konchalovsky and his camera and special-effects crews put a few arresting images on screen, including some frightening metal rat-dogs. But even there they fall short of obvious models like Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "City of Lost Children," and the 3-D treatment adds nothing. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinNov 23, 2010
Your Thanksgiving turkey has arrived on schedule and it's called The Nutcracker in 3D. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyNov 27, 2010
Anything but a seasonal treat. This special-effects-heavy, big-budget musical from expatriate Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky (Runaway Train, Tango & Cash) ranks as one of the most misguided children's films ever made. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubNov 24, 2010
The Nutcracker in 3D will be barely recognizable to fans of the beloved holiday classic. Imagine watching Tchaikovsky's ballet after taking a handful of peyote - on a day when all of the dancers call in sick and the orchestra decides to play a different set of the composer's works. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertNov 23, 2010
From what dark night of the soul emerged the wretched idea for The Nutcracker in 3D? Who considered it even remotely a plausible idea for a movie? Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNov 24, 2010
Do not, in fact, go at all. Because aside from the actual nutcracker, most of the crucial elements are missing from Andrei Konchalovsky's bizarre miscalculation. Magic and joy top the list. Read full review
20
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 24, 2010
Russian-born schlockmeister Andrei Konchalovsky has flirted with the good kind of bad in the past (Tango & Cash), but here, he's finally made his disaster-piece. Unclean. Read full review
16
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonNov 23, 2010
Nutcracker In 3D doesn't just compound past errors in re-imagining the story. Thanks to a big budget, huge staging, massive overacting, and the non-wonders of post-production 3-D conversion, it adds a wide bevy of new errors. Read full review
12
New York PostLou LumenickNov 24, 2010
Misconceived, bloated and incredibly ugly fantasy epic. Read full review
10
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNov 29, 2010
Even if the film were well done, it would still be a travesty. Read full review
0
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 11, 2010
This is first-degree cultural homicide. Read full review
0
SlateDana StevensNov 29, 2010
This non-balletic adaptation by the Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky is something gnarled and stunted and wrong, something that should never have been allowed to see the light of day. How's that for a holiday-ad pullquote? Read full review
0
Village VoiceJ. HobermanNov 23, 2010
The wildest thing about this movie is its faith that what kids (and parents) really want for Christmas is a Nutcracker version of the Final Solution. Read full review
More From This Movie

18 Critic Reviews

2.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL