There are moments ... that find both truth and lyricism, touching on what it means to be alive, and on what we owe to the ghosts of the past.
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10/31/03
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The Human Stain (2003)
41
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:144
Fresh:59
Rotten:85
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: Though the acting is fine, the leads are miscast, and the story is less powerful on screen than on the page.
Theatrical Release:Oct 31, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $5,311,526
Synopsis: Director Robert Benton brings Philip Roth's 2000 novel THE HUMAN STAIN to the screen in this lavish production, with expert cinematography from Jean-Yves Escoffier. Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins)... [More]
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Anthony Hopkins, Gary Sinese, Ed Harris
Director: Robert Benton
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Reviews for The Human Stain
Falls victim to a fatal lack of narrative drive, suspense and drama.
10/31/03
Top CriticBenton is a highly intelligent director, and in the lead there is that paragon of acting maturity, Anthony Hopkins.
10/31/03
The acting here is terrific, which is no surprise, as Benton is a great director of actors. And this is a true ensemble, with no one person outshining anyone else.
10/31/03
You want the movie's mechanics to work better than they do, because The Human Stain ultimately makes a moving plea for the sanctity and dignity of the individual.
10/31/03
The movie veers off in a million lesser directions.
10/31/03
When Kidman's on screen, the film catches fire. Otherwise, it remains unignited.
10/31/03
It all feels dutiful, like an unexceptional British television adaptation of a classic novel.
10/31/03
But audiences truly fascinated with the issues it touches upon -- class and sex, race and identity -- would be better off to search out the source material that delves into them deeply.
10/31/03
Top CriticA compelling, sexy and often moving film.
10/31/03
Top CriticNicole Kidman as a milkmaid leading a hardscrabble existence? If you say so.
10/31/03
Top CriticWe may not be able to forgive the film its numerous missteps, but we must honor its own, unerring absolution of lives lived wrong.
10/31/03
Most of The Human Stain is hard slogging without the kinds of rewards that classic tragedies can offer us.
10/31/03
It's a respectable effort that doesn't quite gel, but not for lack of trying.
10/31/03
Top CriticIt neatly illustrates the perils of kidnapping a decent novel from its rightful home and exposing the vulnerable thing to the glare of a Hollywood camera.
10/31/03
By the end, you will care about the people here.
10/31/03
A platinum-class production that tackles the major hot-button issue of American racism and yet somehow never manages to connect emotionally either through its main characters or story.
10/31/03
Supporting performances aside, The Human Stain leaves little impression.
10/31/03
Top CriticIt's a well-intended failure. Benton may have been trying for an American tragedy, but it's possible he wound up with a sympathy card instead.
10/31/03
Top CriticRushes from the personal to the universal in an exhilarating victory for storytelling.
10/31/03
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