Were there more meat on the bones of this fable about hypocrisy and spiritual hollowness, [director] Marsh's pacing might seem deliberate rather then merely slow.
Comment
05/19/06
The King (2006)
55
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:76
Fresh:42
Rotten:34
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: This disturbing film about the past coming back demanding its due evokes classical tragedy, but is ultimately too heavy-handed.
Theatrical Release:May 19, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $157,875
Synopsis: Gael Garcia Bernal (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) may posses the rugged good looks of a classic screen star but he continues to dodge Hollywood, instead choosing to follow his own idiosyncratic path with... [More]
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, William Hurt, Pell James, Paul Dano
Director: James Marsh
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Reviews for The King
The script's in version of the old story is too forced and self-consciously shocking to really connect. It's all obvious iconoclastic effect.
05/19/06
Top CriticThere is no tragedy without character, yet the way The King drapes heavy situations around its feebly imagined personalities suggests a tire thrown around the neck of a poodle.
05/19/06
Top CriticSurely among the darkest-themed movies ever made, British director James Marsh's The King is the jaw-dropping story of a born-again Christian facing the sins of his past in ways unimaginable.
05/19/06
Top CriticThis is one of the creepiest movies of the year so far...
05/19/06
Underwhelming.
05/19/06
It's too full of tired clichis to be the Night of the Hunter it wants to be, but it tries its best, and the top-notch performances from Bernal and Hurt carry the deadweight.
05/18/06
It's not a story easily shaken, however, or easily pigeonholed, inhabiting instead a bright and evil category all its own.
05/18/06
The director, James Marsh (who wrote the script with Milo Addica), is a genius at keeping both levels in focus -- the conventional thwarted romance on top, the unholy mythic horror show under the surface.
05/18/06
Top CriticThe movie grows mean-spirited and ugly instead of psychologically stimulating or emotionally sound.
05/18/06
Top CriticGrim and dreary, this depressing drama seems to serve very little purpose...
05/18/06
Echoes the dread-soaked likes of In The Bedroom and The Virgin Suicides as an examination of the human heart as well as the divine one.
05/17/06
Imaginative re-interpretation of the Garden of Eden theme.
05/15/06
Arranges its easy targets like a gunman lining up beer cans to shoot.
05/15/06
This dark take on the prodigal son never picks up steam beyond initial exposition.
05/13/06
It's not until it's over that you fully appreciate how emotionally suspenseful it was.
05/06/06
You think the movie is going to be one thing, like maybe a family drama about forgiveness for past wrongs, but it totally heads off in directions you don't expect.
04/24/06
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03/10/06
There's a distinct air of The Talented Mr Ripley about the morally complex Elvis and Bernal perfectly captures his charismatic yet sinister qualities.
10/29/05
Marsh takes a clever approach to a controversial idea, but he never makes it terribly engaging
10/13/05
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