Read Negative User Reviews for Winter's Tale

3

Leo9127Feb 22, 2014

Wow! What a perfect way to ruin St Valentine's Day by watching this mess of a movie directed by the writer of Batman & Robin, with terrible acting, and Will Smith as Lucifer, with some of the worst I've ever seen, or heard, but again IWow! What a perfect way to ruin St Valentine's Day by watching this mess of a movie directed by the writer of Batman & Robin, with terrible acting, and Will Smith as Lucifer, with some of the worst I've ever seen, or heard, but again I shouldn't be surprised by that, this is the worst movie on theaters you can watch on St Valentine's Day. (BTW I haven't seen Endless Love yet)… Expand

3 of 6 users found this helpful33

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1

ThegodfathersonFeb 14, 2014

Winter's Tale plods along from one slipshod sequence to the next, never managing to get a handle on its epic narrative and weighed down by its own pretension. There probably could have been a very nice movie made from this fantasticalWinter's Tale plods along from one slipshod sequence to the next, never managing to get a handle on its epic narrative and weighed down by its own pretension. There probably could have been a very nice movie made from this fantastical material, but it's never focused enough to work and is almost immediately sunk by its own ridiculousness and melodrama.… Expand

4 of 9 users found this helpful45

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1

tysonatthemovieFeb 26, 2014

What were they thinking?! I have not read the book but this story makes absolutely no sense and is completely pointless. The acting is bad (especially Will Smith). Ultimately, this was the biggest waste of two hours I have committed in a long time.

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

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3

GreatMartinFeb 14, 2014

Do you believe a prince kissing a princess will bring her back to life? Do you believe in white horses growing wings and flying? Do you believe in people turning into stars after dying? Do you believe in Lucifer, Hell and Heaven? How aboutDo you believe a prince kissing a princess will bring her back to life? Do you believe in white horses growing wings and flying? Do you believe in people turning into stars after dying? Do you believe in Lucifer, Hell and Heaven? How about the super-natural? Do you believe in love?

It being Valentine's Day weekend 3 romantic movies and "RoboCop" opened up. Being a romantic I picked "Winter's Tale" and I am still not sure what I saw! Winter's Tale opens on a confusing note spending time in 2014 and 1914 but quickly turns into an early 20th century love story between an orphan, Peter Lake (played by Colin Farrell, and an heiress Beverly Penn (played by Jessica Brown Findlay) who has consumption. Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe), who brought up Peter, taught him how to be a master thief with a natural penchant for fixing anything mechanical, including opening safes and they have a falling out. Along with being an Irish mob leader, it is the early 1900s in New York City, Pearly is also one of Lucifer's (Will Smith!)workers and he is out to end Peter's life.

Without giving away any spoilers we are suddenly in 2014 with Peter not having aged a day since we last saw him but with amnesia. He meets Virginia Gamely (Jennifer Connelly) a newspaper reporter and her young daughter Abby (Ripley Sobo) who is dying of cancer. Pearly, also ageless, is also in New York to get Peter.

The biggest surprise in the movie is the appearance of Eva Marie Saint as Willa, Beverly's younger sister, at her real age of 90. It has been 60 years since she won her Oscar for On The Waterfront and, yes, she has aged, but watching a movie like this you can see the young Edie Doyle of that movie. William hurt as Issac Penn the father of Beverly and Willa does what he can with what little he is given to work with. Almost unrecognizable is Matt Bomer in a cameo.

Colin Farrell, with his caterpillar eyebrows and puppy eyes, plays the lover role well as does Jessica Brown Findlay as the ethereal Beverly. Russell Crowe, a lot thinner than he has been in the past few years, plays Pearly as the gangster of the century sometimes going a little overboard with the accent.

New York, especially Central Park in both centuries, is shown as the vibrant city it is known as the world over.

Director and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman doesn't quite capture the novel, by Mark Helprin, that the picture is based on but there are quite a few breath taking shots throughout the movie, including the flying horse.

The love story is touching but the rest of the movie brought laughs at the wrong places and snorts at some of the explanations. And what was the cause of the scar on Pearly Soames?

"Winter's Tale" is good when it concentrates in the first hour on the love story and with Eva Marie Saint's appearance almost saving the last hour of supernatural happenings.… Expand

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1

tnick771Feb 16, 2014

Possibly worse than a made-for-tv-movie. Made no sense. Seems like they couldn't get a good cast for it (Will Smith playing Lucifer? Seriously?).

Just avoid. Looks like something the Hallmark Channel would release in a slow season.

2 of 6 users found this helpful24

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1

edsmithusaFeb 15, 2014

This is a very bad movie. The plot made no sense. The acting was terrible. The special effect (a magic flying horse) was crude and ineffective. There was a misplaced Will Smith cameo as Lucifer that did not fit. There is simply no redeemingThis is a very bad movie. The plot made no sense. The acting was terrible. The special effect (a magic flying horse) was crude and ineffective. There was a misplaced Will Smith cameo as Lucifer that did not fit. There is simply no redeeming quality to this very bad movie. Anyone saying otherwise is being paid.… Expand

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2

GurolgeJun 7, 2014

The film is visually good; on the other hand the story-telling seems overconfident but it fails greatly in too many levels. Pieces of events are overdressed too much but I guess the writers did not think about connecting the pieces in a wayThe film is visually good; on the other hand the story-telling seems overconfident but it fails greatly in too many levels. Pieces of events are overdressed too much but I guess the writers did not think about connecting the pieces in a way that makes the film complete. I was wondering how a film can be off people's radar with this many great actors and actresses and the film looked nice visually from its trailer. I guess I got my answer.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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3

diogomendesDec 17, 2014

Boasting an appealing cast and some good scenes, though that's not enough to save "Winter's Tale" from it's preposterous script (blame director/writer/producer Akiva Goldsman for that) and uninteresting characters.

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3

DCEdmondsNov 13, 2014

"Winter's Tale" 10 Scale Rating: 3.0 (Bad) ...

The Good: Based on a novel of the same name, the story is a decent one. You can tell there is more to it than what we see here, and it made me want to read the book. The performances ranged"Winter's Tale" 10 Scale Rating: 3.0 (Bad) ...

The Good: Based on a novel of the same name, the story is a decent one. You can tell there is more to it than what we see here, and it made me want to read the book. The performances ranged from good (Collin Ferrell, William Hurt) to great (Russell Crowe, Will Smith in a cameo). I like what they were trying to do here, even if the execution was lacking.

The Bad: Quite possibly the slowest and most boring film of 2014. It just plods along and I lost interest 10 minutes in. I also couldn't get into any of the characters as the director seemed to want you to already possess knowledge of the story and did nothing to flesh any of them out. At the heart of it, that's the biggest problem. A massive chunk of the film is left unexplained and things happen that you can't possibly understand. I can only assume that scenes are better detailed and explained in the novel. Just a dull and somewhat lazy effort all around.… Expand

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3

Movi3R3vi3werNov 27, 2014

My god what a cast! This ought to be something!

Yeah this movie is something, a pile of **** This is one of the worst movies of the year. We are suppose to sit through a two freakin hour movie filled with cliches, two dimensionalMy god what a cast! This ought to be something!

Yeah this movie is something, a pile of **** This is one of the worst movies of the year. We are suppose to sit through a two freakin hour movie filled with cliches, two dimensional characters, a boring plot and one of the worst developed romances I have ever seen. So if you want to watch a romance movie with your spouse or boy/girlfriend I do not suggest this. Instead try out Silver Linings Playbook, The Fault in Our Stars, Titanic or even Die Hard.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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3

MrMovieBuffFeb 27, 2016

'Winter's Tale' was a movie you can imagine I was pretty excited for, a fantasy love story on Valentine's Day. Plus, the trailers and the poster made it look very interesting, and it had a pretty respectable cast.

This movie was not at'Winter's Tale' was a movie you can imagine I was pretty excited for, a fantasy love story on Valentine's Day. Plus, the trailers and the poster made it look very interesting, and it had a pretty respectable cast.

This movie was not at all what I expected.

'Winter's Tale' is a sometimes confused, oddly paced and strangely structured picture that feels like you are watching two different movies at once. Certain scenes of character development seem a little rushed, and you want to get yourself invested, but for some reason, this movie pushes you further and further away.

Colin Farrell plays a man named Peter Lake who, as a child, was sent away on a boat. As an adult, he spends most of his life stealing and hiding from a man who is after him named Pearly (an over the top Russell Crowe). Peter ends up just coming across some white horse that appears to be magical, as it can fly and disappear when it chooses to do so.

During his journey, he comes across a young girl named Beverly (Jessica Brown Findlay) who appears to be dying, and he feels as if it's his job to look after her, and make her better. They instantly fall in love, but it feels very abrupt that they feel this way...one moment she is supposed to be scared of him, the next, they are just instantly into each other.

Pearly finds out about this, and tries all he can to stop Lake in his tracks. Russell Crowe's thick Irish accent makes it hard to take him seriously, and he overacts to the point where it feels like a parody of the book that this was adapted from.

The dialogue here is a little corny as well, "You...are...impossibly beautiful" so says Peter as he looks deeper into Beverly's eyes. "Stop, or I'll melt all the snow I am standing on" answers Beverly and Peter then says "Give me a chance and you'll melt all the snow in the world". This dialogue is not quite as terrible as the ones you hear in 'Star Wars: Attack of the Clones' (2002), but it could've gone down that route.

The second half of the movie takes place almost 100 years later in present day, and Peter seems to have no memory of what's happened to him, he cannot even remember his own identity. But he feels like he has some unfinished business, hence why he is still alive, and Pearly...who somehow is also in present day, knows about this, and still is intent to try and stop him.

The movie is the directorial debut of Akiva Goldsman, who also wrote 'A Beautiful Mind' (2001), and 'Cinderella Man' (2005), but also wrote 'Batman & Robin' (1997) and 'Lost In Space' (1998). For a director, he has the right visual tone as to how this movie should look, the cinematography by Caleb Deschanel is inspired also. It's just, maybe Goldsman should've hired some other writers to write the screenplay where it feels less rushed and less corny from time to time.

I did find myself rooting for Farrell's character, but ultimately, everybody else in this movie seemed like an exaggeration of whatever it is they are supposed to represent. Jessica Brown Findlay, while she is a good actress, seems almost lifeless in the role, and I know, she is supposed to be playing a dying girl. I've also mentioned how over the top Russell Crowe is, so we can leave it at that.

'Winter's Tale' is a well-meaning, but ultimately forgettable and sometimes bland effort.… Expand

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3

DevilmathSep 27, 2015

I lost count of the times I’ve seen "love" and "destiny" going together in a Hollywood film. The two concepts are often forcedly connected, and perhaps this is the first reason that makes Winter's Tale (released in the United Kingdom as A NewI lost count of the times I’ve seen "love" and "destiny" going together in a Hollywood film. The two concepts are often forcedly connected, and perhaps this is the first reason that makes Winter's Tale (released in the United Kingdom as A New York Winter's Tale) a complete disappointment. The film is adapted from a 1983 book written by novelist, journalist and conservative commentator Mark Helprin: a tale of considerable success, which gained a large number of admirers over the years. Its fame could explain why so many stars got involved in the project, turning the film into a showcase of well-known faces: Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Will Smith, William Hurt. Even Martin Scorsese was rumored to have shown interest. Unfortunately, it takes more than good intentions and a slew of celebrities to guarantee quality.

A New York Winter's Tale wants us to think that our destinies are all entwined, like the stars in the sky. In 1915’s New York, thief Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) flees from his mortal enemy, the evil Pearly Soames (Crowe). He only escapes thanks to the appeareance of a white horse, whose supernatural nature is portrayed with a ridiculous amount of glare on the screen. The plot unfolds, leading Peter to meet beautiful Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), a deathly ill but cheerful heiress, whom he irrevocably falls in love with after she cracks half a smile and blinks a couple of times. Is he the miracle she was waiting for? Will their love be enough to defeat death? Their purity will clash with the viciousness surrounding Soames’s gang, secretly at the service of Lucifer (a very awkward Will Smith, whose interludes with Crowe are often source of embarrassment). Peter and Beverly, instead, are the obvious personification of Good; after all, he’s the handsome knight on a white horse. This game of metaphors runs parallel to the agonising love story, always hinting at the existence of a greater plan that shapes everyone’s destiny. However, the masterplan only works as a good ol’ deus-ex-machina, designed specifically for the protagonists. Even when the setting magically changes to today’s New York, and the film drops the cheesy trash of the first half to pick up a livelier pace, it still fails to address its main themes with credibility and coherence.

A New York Winter's Tale’s many flaws are all direct results of its poor screenplay (written by first-time director Akiva Goldsman), and a chaotic, at times ludicrous structure. The vagueness and silliness of the supernatural element is the final straw in a story packed with preconceptions about love and sacrifice; the script too often belittles profound themes and concepts, labelling them as mere manifestations of "magic" and "miracle". The magic of the right man in the right place. The miracle of life. If there's a magic connection that links us all, in an inexplicable and immense network, I very much doubt its sole purpose is to get you a cute boyfriend. Even so, many in the audience were genuinely moved at the end of the film, showing that, despite it all, it hits its specific target of hopeless romantics. If this doesn’t sound like you, steer clear.… Expand

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