61
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsHoffman (Soapdish, One Fine Day) leads a first-rate cast in an intelligent, fully realized adaptation of Shakespeare's most popular comedy that's at once highly cinematic and true to its source.
- One of the best of the many delights of director Michael Hoffman's new film -- is that he manages to have it both ways -- the gauzy fantasy and the bacchanal.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonMost of the original play's magical speeches are preserved here, and however far this film may seem to stray from the original text, the delights remain. [14 May 1999, Friday, p.A]
- 70SlateDavid EdelsteinSlateDavid EdelsteinHoffman has wedged the play into a weirdly inapposite setting, has stupidly cut and even more stupidly embellished it, and has miscast it almost to a player. And yet the damn thing works: Shakespeare staggers through, mutilated but triumphant.
- 63USA TodaySusan WloszczynaUSA TodaySusan WloszczynaThe major flaw, the clash of acting styles, is at least fascinating to observe. [14 May 1999, Life, p.8E]
- 60VarietyEmanuel LevyVarietyEmanuel LevyWhimsical, intermittently enjoyable but decidedly unmagical.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyKline turns in a bravura performance -- he's one of the few in this star-packed cast who actually knows what to do with Shakespeare's poetry.
- 50Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula NechakSeattle Post-IntelligencerPaula NechakShakespeare's comical, all-too-human tale of lust, foreplay and wordplay is buried beneath bad taste.
- 50L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorThe set design is gung-ho Hallmark (Tinkerbell lights, that sort of thing) with a strong whiff of Fellini (the fairy glade looks like a pre-Raphaelite red-light district).
- 50The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinA parade of incongruities, with performances ranging from the sublime to the you-know-what.