The Emperor's New Clothes (2001)
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Reviews Counted: 85
Fresh: 62 | Rotten: 23
The premise of The Emperor's New Clothes is intriguing, and Holm gives a delightful performance.
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 8
The premise of The Emperor's New Clothes is intriguing, and Holm gives a delightful performance.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 859
My Rating
Movie Info
A fanciful retelling of the story of Napoleon Bonaparte (played by heralded actor Ian Holm, this British costume comedy suggests that it was Napoleon's double, not the man himself, who died on St. Helena Island. The film begins by presenting Napoleon after his defeat at Waterloo, at the home of a young boy (Tom Watson), where he watches a slide show of his actions and begins to tell his story. The film flashes back to Napoleon's six years of house arrest, when he dictated his memoirs to an aide
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Ian Holm
Napoleon Bonaparte/Euge... -
Iben Hjejle
Pumpkin -
Tim McInnerny
Dr. Lambert -
Tom Watson
Gerard -
Nigel Terry
Montholon -
Hugh Bonneville
Bertrand -
Murray Melvin
Antommarchi -
Eddie Marsan
Marchand -
Clive Russell
Bommel -
-
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (94) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (62) | Rotten (23) | DVD (7)
A delightful, if minor, pastry of a movie.
Top CriticViewers are asked so often to suspend belief that were it not for Holm's performance, the film would be a total washout.
Recent and long-standing fans of Holm must relish the chance to watch Sir Ian in a dual role, one that he explores with customary insight, subtlety and good humor.
[Holm] saves this film time and again with an eagle's gaze that puts you on alert, prompting you to sit up a little straighter in that theater seat.
To build a feel-good fantasy around a vain dictator-madman is off-putting, to say the least, not to mention inappropriate and wildly undeserved.
This new spin on the old switcheroo plot is intriguing, warmly human and gently funny.
Farcical, old-fashioned Hans Christian Andersen tale.
A nifty premise turns into a ridiculous film.
A great companion piece to other Napoleon films.
A unique, and not always successful mixture of comedy and drama, helped by Ian Holm's inspired acting.
Mr. Holm possesses the kind of skill that acting is all about: He can make an audience forget what they know and believe they are watching two different men.
Fails to ignite in the way a film -- even a comedy -- revolving around Napoleon should.
All of this is written, directed and acted with verve, feeling and wit.
It may not be history %u2013 but then again, what if it is? %u2013 but it makes for one of the most purely enjoyable and satisfying evenings at the movies I've had in a while.
Audience Reviews for The Emperor's New Clothes
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for The Emperor's New Clothes yet.
What's Hot On RT
The Last Stand, Side Effects
Trailer for James Franco adaptation
Rachel McAdams' time travel romantic drama
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Ranking the Blockbusters with Summer Movie Scorecard 2013 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Last Stand and Side Effects 6
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Star Trek Softer Than Expected at #1 77
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 37
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 106
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
Top Headlines
-
Alex Gibney Talks We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
0
-
RED Screenwriters Returning for RED 3
0
-
Brave's Brenda Chapman Talks Merida Makeover Controversy
0
-
Gold Discovers Spike Lee
1
-
Morgan Freemand and Diane Keaton Team Up for Life Itself
0
-
The Ten O'Clock People Are Counting on Chris Evans
0
-
Marton Csokas in Talks for The Equalizer
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]"The Emperor's New Clothes" is not the broad comedy I was expecting(though there is a little of that here). It is actually a gentle and poignant bit of speculation about history, dreams of glory and the people trying to recapture them. Through this, the movie conveys a subtle antiwar message. And Ian Holm sets the right mood with a magnificent performance. Only the pedestrian direction hurts the movie. [/font]