The Oxford Murders (2008)
Average Rating: 3.8/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 9
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 2
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Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 14,298
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Movie Info
When an elderly woman is viciously murdered in Oxford, her body is discovered by two strangers whose lives are immediately changed forever: Arthur Seldom (John Hurt), a prestigious professor of logic, and Martin (Elijah Wood), a young graduate student who has just arrived at the university hoping to be Seldom's pupil. It quickly becomes clear that hers is the first in a series of increasingly bizarre murders, with each victim's corpse marked by strange symbols. Professor and student join forces
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Cast
-
Elijah Wood
Martin -
John Hurt
Arthur Seldom -
Leonor Watling
Lorna -
Julie Cox
Beth -
Jim Carter
Inspector Petersen -
Anna Massey
Mrs. Eagleton -
Alex Cox
Kalman -
Dominique Pinon
Frank -
Burn Gorman
Podorov
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All Critics (10) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (2) | Rotten (9) | DVD (3)
This purported whodunit thriller never solves its main mystery: How and why did this film get made in the first place?
Top CriticA polished but verbose whodunit that's surprisingly buttoned-down given helmer Alex de la Inglesia's rep for comicbook wackiness.
Álex de la Iglesia does it again but will anyone other than his established fanbase take notice?
Hurt sells the silliness almost convincingly, but even from such a skillful pitchman it comes out sounding, finally, like junk.
A math- and symbology-tinged thriller adapted by director Álex de la Iglesia, and pitched at a breakneck, didactic clip, absent any sensible, modulated emotional investment in the characters or material.
The Scooby Doo ending requires nearly ten minutes of explanation and negates the need to follow the previous 90 minutes. It's also preceded by one character stating, "In life, nobody bothers explaining anything." Well, except in this movie.
So bad it's good, then? Alas, the whole thing is uncomfortable and boring, scotching any ironic enjoyment of its awfulness.
A wonderfully compelling mess of a movie. It's tricky trying to bond Hitchcockian flair with lecture hall semantics, but the director works his tricks with ace visual consideration.
Disappointing, badly plotted thriller, let down by some dodgy acting, poor direction and a script that makes The Da Vinci Code look like a masterpiece.
The murders are simply chalk marks on a blackboard with no build-up and little fallout.
Not so terrible that you can understand why it's been practically buried by its distributors, but you can get better ridiculous whodunits on TV.
Audience Reviews for The Oxford Murders
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Arthur Seldom: The butterfly that flutters it's wings and causes a hurricane on the other side of the world.
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Foreign Titles
- Crimes à Oxford (FR)
- Los crímenes de Oxford (ES)
