The Reckoning
Paramount Classics | Release Date: March 5, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
16
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
This is a brilliant and unpretentious movie to raise the bar for contemporary popular entertainment, designed for the upper-tier thinkers at the multiplex. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The Reckoning, with a script by Mark Mills, demands close attention; it's a play of words and ideas crowding for consideration. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Has just a little too much of the whodunit and the thriller and not enough of the temper of its clash between cultures, but it works, maybe because the simplicity of the underlying plot is masked by the oddness of the characters. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's made with seriousness, intelligence and craft, and filmgoers who aren't put off by the slow pace of life in 1380 should see it. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Celebrates the craft of acting both in its story and in fine performances. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
A beguiling, multilayered drama. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Intelligent thriller. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Far more imaginative and intriguingly moody than other recent thrillers. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
The notion that stories are the lies that tell the truth isn't new -- even Shakespeare knew that -- but the central conceit of "let's save lives by putting on a play" seems not only artificial, but also hollow. Read full review
60
VarietyLael Loewenstein
Has its flaws, among them a certain self-righteousness and a complicated storyline, but it is never less than gripping thanks to its gifted international cast. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
The Reckoning isn't great by any means and there are moments during the final stretch when it isn't even good. But for its first hour or so, the story moves at a steady clip, generating enough mystery to keep you guessing and enough atmosphere to keep you interested. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
An intriguing mix of the familiar and the alien. DaFoe's distinctly American speech patterns are a little jarring amid a tangle of British inflections (French actor Cassel's accent is justified within the story), but it doesn't spoil the film's overall effect. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The Reckoning proceeds with such leaden literal-mindedness that it never seems more than a stodgy (and, at times, blatantly silly) paperback affair. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Has so many ideas working in it that they all but suffocate its thin plot. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The story never gathers much dramatic momentum despite an impressive cast and a lot of dank Middle Ages atmosphere. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
By any reckoning, director Paul McGuigan and writer Mark Mills seem mighty ground down trying to buck these medieval odds. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
So serious-minded it occasionally teeters on the brink of absurdity. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The movie has none of the embarrassing absurdity and cheap effects that made last year's trip back to the 14th century, "Timeline,'' such a joke. We should be so lucky. Instead, we get a listless avenger drama. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Seems overstuffed and, in its own way, preachy. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The mystery is never very compelling, Paul McGuigan's direction tends to be obvious and flat, many of the characters are stagy and unconvincing, and Bettany doesn't have anywhere near the star power to hold the movie together. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
McGuigan's wonderfully ambitious but terribly melodramatic film is chock-full of symbolic references, subtext, and the sort of period detail that made Monty Python's historical comedies so gamely endearing. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
The problem is the obviousness with which the plot unfolds -- it's as if the filmmakers had a 14th-century audience in mind, one that had never seen a movie. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Maddeningly dull. It works on the cerebrum while the rest of the body drifts off to sleep, and the dullness only intensifies as the film goes on. Read full review
40
Village VoiceEd Park
Emphatically acted, ponderous, and ultimately a little silly. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Trudges along the well-trod path of high-minded, schematic storytelling. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The crucial evidence has to do with rigor mortis. The movie's a stiff too.
30
Washington PostMark Jenkins
Carries too heavy a burden to succeed as the trifle it really is. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Although the acting is committed and sometimes stirring, most of the characters are about as one-note as the biblical archetypes Martin wants to get away from in the first place. "The Name of the Rose" this ain't. Read full review
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