74
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100San Francisco ExaminerSan Francisco ExaminerOne of the most complex and powerful literary scripts in recent times.
- 80VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyDoesn’t always convince, particularly in the last lap. But it’s an engrossing, unusual, imaginatively executed bit of psychological gamesmanship nonetheless.
- 80L.A. WeeklyManohla DargisL.A. WeeklyManohla DargisCuriously, one of the film's stranger effects is that it's more convincing as a meditation on desire and Hollywood than as a biographical exploration.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertGods and Monsters is not a deep or powerful film, but it is a good-hearted one.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliA rich, multi- layered portrait of a director from Hollywood's Golden Age whose own life was as interesting as any of his movies.
- 70Film.comTom KeoghFilm.comTom KeoghBeyond the fantastic contrivances of Gods and Monsters, these performances are startlingly human.
- 70The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsWhile McKellen's sharp performance provides the main attraction, the film wouldn't work without both Fraser, who brings something extra to a character who could easily have been a mere lunk, and director Bill Condon's careful integration of larger themes.
- 63The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyAs a portrait of a deliciously eccentric individual, Gods and Monsters features a vivid performance from Ian McKellen that makes you think not of James Whale but of Ian McKellen.
- 50The New RepublicStanley KauffmannThe New RepublicStanley KauffmannLynn Redgrave is nearly incomprehensible as the housekeeper with some sort of housekeeperly accent. [Dec. 14, 1998]
- 30SlateDavid EdelsteinSlateDavid EdelsteinPsychologically thin, artistically flabby, and symbolically opaque.