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The Human Stain

The Human Stain (2003)

tomatometer

43

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 148
Fresh: 63 | Rotten: 85

Though the acting is fine, the leads are miscast, and the story is less powerful on screen than on the page.

39

Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 38
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 23

Though the acting is fine, the leads are miscast, and the story is less powerful on screen than on the page.

audience

49

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 14,968

My Rating

Movie Info

For his first film since 1998's Twilight, acclaimed director Robert Benton helmed this tense drama written by Fatal Attraction co-scribe Nicholas Meyer and based on the novel of the same name by Philip Roth. Set in the late '90s at the height of the Clinton sex-scandal, The Human Stain stars Anthony Hopkins as Coleman Silk, a respected professor at a New England college who suddenly finds his life unraveling after a comment he makes about some African-American students is misinterpreted as a

R, 1 hr. 46 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Nick Meyers

Jul 20, 2004

$5.3M

Miramax Films

Cast

All Critics (163) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (63) | Rotten (90) | DVD (21)

One of those films that makes you say, 'That was powerful. Now what the hell was it about?'

November 3, 2003 Full Review Source: Slate | Comment
Slate
Top Critic IconTop Critic

... solid but not great.

November 3, 2003 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
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It is hard to buy what The Human Stain is peddling.

November 1, 2003 Comment
Arizona Republic
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The Human Stain takes a complex work of literary art and reduces it to tasteful melodrama.

November 1, 2003 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Works wonderfully as an actor's movie. The trouble is, that's the only way it works.

October 31, 2003 Comment
Washington Post
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The problem is that neither Kidman nor Hopkins seems to know what movie they are in.

October 31, 2003 Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Flawed adaptation of Roth's novel isn't for kids.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Casting a stain.

September 18, 2007 Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | Comment (1)
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Both Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins are vastly miscast in Robert Benton's poor adaptation of Philip Roth's poignant novel, one of the few works about contempo academic battlefields.

August 2, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

The acting is phenomenal (especially Harris), and the film will be a nice challenge for those in search of one.

June 20, 2005 Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | Comment

One of the most underrated pictures of 2003.

December 17, 2004 Comment

The film's frame groans in its attempt to contain such a complex story, and its actors ask us to accept implausible things... but it's ultimately rewarding.

December 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Looking Closer | Comment
Looking Closer

A tricky adaptation of an unlikely novel that nevertheless goes almost as wrong as possible...prey to the most amateur varieties of structural and tonal errors.

August 28, 2004 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | Comment
Nick's Flick Picks
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Human Stain

This movie is based around the life of a classics professor (Coleman), who is currently living in a small New England town. He has harboured a dark secret for 50 years which slowly starts coming out and causes his life to unravel painfully. When he loses his job after being wrongfully charged of racism, his wife dies

February 3, 2009
matertenebraum

Super Reviewer

I'm becoming a huge fan of Nicole Kidman. She's obviously a stunning woman, but fortunately she's also an excellent actress. She disappears into her roles and The Human Stain is the best display of her talents that I've seen so far. Kidman and the rest of the cast give perfect performances that augment a very

November 14, 2008
lewiskendell

Super Reviewer

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