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—— The English Teacher May 17
The Human Stain

The Human Stain (2003)

tomatometer

42

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 149
Fresh: 63 | Rotten: 86

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

40

Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 24

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

audience

48

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 15,280

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,

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Nick Meyers

Jul 20, 2004

$5.3M

Miramax Films - Official Site External Icon

Cast

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All Critics (165) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (63) | Rotten (91) | 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
Slate
Top Critic IconTop Critic

... solid but not great.

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

November 1, 2003
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
Salon.com
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Works wonderfully as an actor's movie. The trouble is, that's the only way it works.

October 31, 2003
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
Washington Post
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Flawed adaptation of Roth's novel isn't for kids.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
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
EmanuelLevy.Com

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

One of the most underrated pictures of 2003.

December 17, 2004

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
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
Nick's Flick Picks

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 leaving this man who is near retirement, with nothing. He embarks on an affair with a young cleaning lady from the college which quickly turns into a relationship as they reveal intimate secrets to each other and finally find the release and trust they've each been searching for. I quite enjoyed this movie ? there was some excellent acting from some top actors, and the sense of intrigue and suspense was maintained throughout. The characters were well-written and the complexities which lingered within their personalities original yet believable. There were moments where I held my breath waiting for the tension to subside and others where I found myself wishing that everything could work out nicely for the people in this story, and remove the arguments and misunderstandings which threatened to ruin what good things they had. It is a truly great movie which can inspire this level of emotion in its audience. The main downside was the fact that it did not seem to flow very well between flashback sequences and the present. Of course I could clearly make out which scenes were of a younger Coleman and memories of the past, however at times failed to recognise their significance at that particular point. It may have been a better idea to insert several shorter flashback clips instead of the lengthy scenes used so that the connection with the present was not lost. There were also sections where the story lagged slightly and I questioned the need for these scenes. In some parts the use of visual without dialogue was extremely effective, but in other parts I felt that the scenes existed solely for the sake of art. In particular, scenes such as the lingering shot of Coleman cradling his wife as she died, froze time and really made me feel the incredible and very sudden loss he suffered. But in comparison, a sequence where the professor's young lady is dancing erotically for him seemed clumsily done as I felt it existed purely for the sake of displaying a sex scene. It did not have the effect of deepening our understanding of the emotions the two main characters felt, which I think it should have done. I was amazed at the end when the terrible secret was revealed through the investigations of a writer who the professor had befriended. To me it would seem wrong to live such a deception your entire life but the movie helped me to understand the character's motives and how he felt that he had no other choice. I was left feeling saddened that someone would have to deny their heritage to such an extent in order to achieve their goals. While it takes a bit of patience to get through the movie (which could have been 20mins shorter), I would highly recommend this movie to anyone. With any luck the more people who watch this movie, the more open-minded society will become and hopefully this type of prejudice will disappear.
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 interesting plot.

The Human Stain is essentially the story of two people's pasts and the events that still deeply affect their emotions and psyches. It takes a while before the entirety of the story is revealed, but if you're anything like me then you'll find yourself completely fascinated with each of the main characters by the end.

There are one or two scenes that come of as less than aunthentic, but these littlle missteps help to keep the story humming along, so I can't complain too much. I highly recommend The Human Stain, it's very well put together and even managed a few unexpected twists and turns.
November 14, 2008
lewiskendell

Super Reviewer

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