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William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (2004)
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Reviews Counted:121
Fresh:86
Rotten:35
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: A respectable if uneven take on the Bard's The Merchant of Venice.
Theatrical Release:Dec 29, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $3,752,725
Synopsis: One of the immortal bard's most frequently performed works gets a first-rate cinematic treatment here, via director Michael Radford (IL POSTINO). Al Pacino is virtually unrecognizable as Shylock,... [More]
Starring: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Zuleikha Robinson
Director: Michael Radford
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Reviews for William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
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 3/5 |
The text is wonderful, Radford’s film has some fine performances from Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes, and he makes good use of Venice locations. Full Review |
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3/4 |
It is really a pleasure to watch a masterful actor like Al Pacino wring every nuance out of the multifarious character of Shylock. Full Review |
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We see what an actor's actor Pacino can be: he's careful and watchful; respectful of other actors' timing; and says his lines perfectly, resisting all temptation to grandstand. Full Review |
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A richly cinematic and robust rendition of Shakespeare's pre-political correctness play about the place of Jews in anti-Semitic 16th century Venice, Michael Radford's film takes delight in dramatics thus pulling us into the story. Full Review |
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It has taken 5 years for Michael Radford's splendid interpretation of Shakespeare's play to come to Australia and it is worth the wait. Full Review |
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4/5 |
Click to read the article Full Review |
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Pacino is at least dynamic, something harder to say about the women in the cast. Full Review |
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It's the perfect cinematic vehicle -- or at least it would have been, if Radford's adaptation weren't so unremittingly cloddish. Full Review |
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4/4 |
Pacino shapes the role masterfully. He not only rises to the role's extremes of villainous melodrama, he fills them, rendering them both theatrical and believable Full Review |
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This is Al Pacino's show, and thankfully his Shylock is absorbing enough to carry the day. Full Review |
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3/5 |
It veers from real conviction to panto, but Radford is clearly committed to the play's relevance, while Pacino, the Shakespeare addict, is a joy to watch. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
Manages to be a gripping and intriguing film. Full Review |
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It tilts so far in one direction that the comic elements seem to come from another, lesser film. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
The screenplay is lean and powerful and the direction deft. Full Review |
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4/4 |
Finally, a filmatic spectacle worthy of the Scribe... Full Review |
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With a running time of over two hours, I was ready to pay with a pound of my flesh for The Merchant of Venice to close shop already. Full Review |
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2.5/5 |
This rendition is hardly a freshman course. Full Review |
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C+ |
It remains an exercise of the head, not the heart. Full Review |
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1/4 |
Merchant of Venice is such a blatantly anti-Semitic work that a modernization seems imprudent. Full Review |
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Shakespeare needs no special effects or short-sighted novelties. Michael Radford's straightforward telling of The Merchant of Venice does the great play justice. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for William Shakespeare's The Merchant of...
February 04, 2009:
Al Pacino Is King Lear 
Al Pacino and Michael Radford are having a Shakespeare reunion: the "Merchant of Venice" star and director are re-teaming for a "King Lear" adaptation, with Pacino in the title... More...
July 13, 2006:
Kidman & Pacino in "Prosecution" Remake?
Billy Wilder's 1957 film "Witness for the Prosecution" is rather excellent, which is why most (old) movie fans will take exception to the news that ... a remake is... More...
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