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.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 859
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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
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Cast
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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 -
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All Critics (94) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (62) | Rotten (23) | DVD (7)
A delightful, if minor, pastry of a movie.
Viewers 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.
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Top Critic
[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]