Coriolanus 2011

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: The film has fifth-act problems, as did the play, but Fiennes' bleak overview should leave receptive viewers feeling daunted and haunted. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: The play has been significantly but artfully trimmed by John Logan's screenplay, which preserves Shakespeare's language. Read more

Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies: Fiennes directs theater on the grand scale, burning his characters down to expose the terrible beauty of the human soul. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: The language lives, as do the people, who are present enough that it's almost a surprise no one brandishes that timely protest sign, "Occupy Rome." Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: A spiky and complex counterweight to Hollywood sentiment and indie cynicism alike. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Fiennes and Logan haven't made a definitive Coriolanus, but they've made a sensationally gripping one. They have the pulse of the play, its firm martial beats and its messy political clatter. They tell a damn good story. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Riches of character are revealed, with copious visual invention. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: The other actors do their best to help Fiennes define this curious anti-hero. Incapable of playing the role of peacetime compromiser, his Coriolanus comes across as a warrior who simply can't function without a war. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: It's a fine example of how a contemporary setting can accentuate the continued relevance of Shakespeare's themes, and it bodes well for Fiennes' future as a director. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: As a portrait of modern warfare, politics and propaganda, "Coriolanus" is intriguing, even if the gritty action sequences don't quite measure up to the realism of "The Hurt Locker." Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: When Caius Martius heads into battle against the invading Volscians, we get 20-odd minutes of brutal street-fighting with RPGs and crackling automatic weapons. The film was shot in Serbia; dial a few decades back and it could have been set there. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Visually and dramatically it works well-it's Shakespeare by way of Black Hawk Down-but as an allegory of modern-day geopolitics it doesn't really go anywhere. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: You buy the concept, from start to finish, because it feels strong and purposeful and in sync with Shakespeare's own vision of a malleable, fickle populace and a leader raised by the ultimate stage mother. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Fiennes leads a cast that, at least in the major roles, is uniformly powerful. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: It's all very unnerving, modern and yet veins-in-the-teeth visceral. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Shakespeare on a trip wire. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: There is a narrative arc to Coriolanus, but it moves along at a snail's pace and the main theme of the film (the pride of Gaius vs. the people he's sworn to protect) isn't a grabber. Read more

Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter: Ralph Fiennes makes Shakespeare modern and bloody brilliant. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Fiennes brings to scorching life on-screen, spitting out his rage with such force the words seem likely to damage literally as well as figuratively. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Slathered in blood, covered with scars and glowering with a predator's gaze, Ralph Fiennes makes a fierce and impressive Caius Martius Coriolanus. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: What remains, in distilled form, is the poetry of violence and contempt-the source of the play's unfailing reputation for political threat and mischief. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Finds something to say about the cult of personality, the trickery of political campaigns, and the potential dangers of populist movements. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Fiennes brings an of-the-moment energy to one of Shakespeare's later tragedies. Yet with its forever-war landscape, it couldn't be more relevant. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: In attempting to update the play to a buzzing CNN world, Ralph Fiennes proves that as a director, he makes a fine actor. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Even in what is viewed as a minor work, the inevitable currents of ambition and violence, cruelty and competition, rivalry and rage run strong and truthfully. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: For Shakespeare neophytes whose primary familiarity with the Bard has been through the cinema, watching Coriolanus may seem like unearthing a lost treasure. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I admired the movie even though I found it neither fish nor fowl. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Purists may holler that Fiennes and screenwriter John Logan have cut the Bard's second-longest play into two tense hours onscreen, but the power of the piece is undeniable. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Fiennes' crackerjack "Coriolanus" stays true to the clever, almost mean-spirited twists and turns of the story, and preserves the authentic flavor and texture of the language. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: In his first film as a director, Fiennes proves that he knows Fiennes the actor inside out, with a self-knowledge that's rare, even admirable. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: The questions Coriolanus poses are so timeless and urgent they could be pullquotes from today's op-ed page. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Ralph Fiennes turns one of Shakespeare's least-loved plays into a slashing, muscular but uneven modern drama in his film-directing debut. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Coriolanus" is a triumph. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: It's a film of vigorous performances and provocative modern resonances, though it sometimes struggles to grapple with a grim, politically ambiguous, 400-year-old play. Read more

Greg Quill, Toronto Star: The play's inherent difficulties notwithstanding, Coriolanus, the movie, is a perfectly sound achievement. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: It feels perfectly natural for iambic pentameter to be coming out of the mouths of cable-news pundits. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: A committed and worthwhile celluloid version of a play so few of us really know. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Fiennes takes one of the playwright's lesser-known works, originally set in the 5th century B.C., updates it to current times and imbues it with a gritty blood-spattered fierceness. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: As directing debuts go, Coriolanus could easily pass for the work of an accomplished master, and though the storytelling lends itself to easy confusion (owing more to the source material than to the execution), the emotional impact reads loud and clear. Read more

Eric Hynes, Village Voice: The transposition to present day is confusing and counterproductive, dulling the impact of an otherwise fierce, often unbearably immediate production. Read more