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Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003)

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Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 173
Fresh: 124 | Rotten: 49

Visually arresting, but the story could be told with a bit more energy.

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 9

Visually arresting, but the story could be told with a bit more energy.

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liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 58,210

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Movie Info

The subject of one of Johannes Vermeer's most enduring portraits becomes the focus of this biographical period piece from director Peter Webber. Girl With a Pearl Earring is told from the point of view of Griet (Scarlett Johansson), a teenaged girl who leaves her family's care in the country to become a servant for the Vermeer household in the comparatively bustling, canal-laden burgh of Delft. When she arrives, she finds herself at the low end of the servant totem pole, until she's allowed to

PG-13, 1 hr. 39 min.

Drama

Directed By: Peter Webber

Written By: Tracy Chevalier, Olivia Hetreed

In Theaters: Jan 9, 2004 Limited

On DVD: May 4, 2004

Box Office:$11.5M

Lions Gate Films Inc.

Working from an intelligent, understated screenplay by Olivia Hetreed, director Peter Webber (an acclaimed documentarian) proceeds with a stunning assurance.

January 30, 2004 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel

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Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

A feast for the eyes.

January 29, 2004 Comment

Richard Nilsen

Arizona Republic

Top Critic

A virtual ricochet-fest of eyeball action. Those looks, those glares, those gapes, those gawks!

January 22, 2004 Comment

Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

Top Critic

A rare and elegant film bathed in the kind of soft, delicate light that can build unexpectedly to feelings of both anxiety and bliss.

January 21, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Observer

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Rex Reed

New York Observer

Top Critic

The picture is simply ravishing, but at times it falls prey to its own contemplations.

January 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

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Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Top Critic

Girl With A Pearl Earring is one of those quiet, restrained films that softly haunts the viewer for weeks afterward. It won't knock you over, but it won't soon leave you either.

January 16, 2004 Comment

Tom Long

Detroit News

Top Critic

Older teens and adults will enjoy. Book is better.

December 24, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

The film is an intriguing speculative account of the creation of one of Vermeer's most famous and sensual paintings. Every shot in the film looks like it was taken right out of a painting from Delft, Holland circa 1665...

May 9, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

The movie benefits greatly from Johansson's gift for understated delivery, but she's less assured in this demure, largely non-verbal role than she was as a modern young woman in Ghost World and Lost in Translation.

June 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Paste Magazine

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Robert Davis

Paste Magazine

Every glance and gesture is an extraordinary vision bathed in lingering and hypnotic beauty.

May 26, 2007 Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio

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Prairie Miller

WBAI Web Radio

An entertaining but inauthentic adaptation, a production which reads more like a Hollywood teensploit than a historical epic from Holland.

April 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Princeton Town Topics

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Kam Williams

Princeton Town Topics

... a movie about a kind of understanding that rarely passes between human beings; a solemn, sacred meeting of minds.

January 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Girl with the Pearl Earring is about the liberating and inspiring experience of being seen.

December 6, 2004 Comment

Jeffrey Overstreet

Looking Closer

Like the finest of Vermeer's paintings, the film's richly textured elements blend perfectly, unforgettably framed.

October 14, 2004 Full Review | Comment

Steve Crum

Kansas City Kansan Source: Kansas City Kansan

Girl gives us a vividly painted world but only patchily drawn characters - in that sense, it gets Vermeer only half right

September 30, 2004 Comment

Jay Antani

Los Angeles Alternative Source: Los Angeles Alternative

A fascinating concept that loses its luster on screen.

August 13, 2004 Full Review Source: Oregon Herald

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Mark Sells

Oregon Herald Source: Oregon Herald

Girl with a pearl earring (...) is a movie of few words and beautiful pictures, and the story is as understated as the acting.

August 7, 2004 Full Review Source: european-films.net

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Boyd van Hoeij

european-films.net

A terrifically realised film, startlingly emotional and wonderfully visceral.

July 20, 2004 Full Review Source: FilmFocus

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Joe Utichi

FilmFocus

Scarlett Johansson, 19, has a matureness beyond her years.

June 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

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Judith Egerton

Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

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Audience Reviews for Girl With a Pearl Earring

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This movie, in my humble opinion, is targeted for audience with peculiar sense. The pearl's value didn't quite add up to much entertainment, and the earring was not as close to heart as it was to ears. The performances didn't matter to me in this case. But if it helps any, every actor/actress excelled his/her role.As

January 6, 2009

familiar stranger

Super Reviewer

This fictionalised version of characters and events surrounding the creation of Vermeer's masterpiece is a cinematographer's wet dream come true. To be honest, I find many period dramas a load of overly melodramatic, hand wringing nonsense, but The Girl With The Pearl Earring was quite enchanting. It looks absolutely

May 25, 2007

xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

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