RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2007)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
76 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:50

Fresh:38

Rotten:12

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: Director Adrian Shergold doesn't shy away from the darker elements of the movie's subject, and Timothy Spall is mesmerizing as the title character.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for disturbing images, nudity and brief sexuality

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jun 1, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: Timothy Spall (Professor Pettigrew from the Harry Potter movies) gives a magnificently multilayered performance as the protagonist in PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN. Spall plays Albert Pierrepoint,... Timothy Spall (Professor Pettigrew from the Harry Potter movies) gives a magnificently multilayered performance as the protagonist in PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN. Spall plays Albert Pierrepoint, a grocery deliveryman who decides to apply for his father's old job--a hangman for the British courts. Soon he is perfecting the execution procedure, fulfilling his duties in record time and with no problems whatsoever. Though proud of his success, Pierrepoint prefers to keep it to himself, not even telling his wife, Anne (Juliet Stevenson), what he does when he leaves the house for days at a time. But when General Montgomery himself (Clive Francis) asks Pierrepoint to execute dozens of Nazis who have been sentenced to death, for the first time Pierrepoint starts questioning what he does, and soon his relatively calm, quiet world is turned upside down. Based on a true story, PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN is a gripping period drama, bathed in grays by cinematographer Danny Cohen and production designer Candida Otton. Spall is mesmerizing as Pierrepoint, his slow walk and penetrating eyes filling the screen. Stevenson is excellent as his loyal wife, standing by him through thick and thin. PIERREPOINT is directed with careful precision by Adrian Shergold, a longtime actor and television director who trained at the feet of Mike Leigh, who has cast Spall in many of his own films. And Eddie Marsan excels as Tish, a compatriot of Pierrepoint's who lands himself in a very nasty bit of trouble. [More]

Starring: Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan, James Corden

Starring: Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan, James Corden, Christopher Fulford, Tobias Menzies, Tim Woodward

Director: Adrian Shergold

Director: Adrian Shergold
Screenwriter: Bob Mills, Jeff Pope
Producer: Christine Langan
Composer: Martin Phipps
Studio: IFC Films

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Oct 30, 2007

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Plodding biopic.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/17/09
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The key to the film is in the performances by Spall and Stevenson -- and by Marsan. The utter averageness of the characters, their lack of insight, their normality, contrasts with the subject matter in an unsettling way.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/02/07
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A suitably sombre treatment of a sombre story, Pierrepoint is nevertheless a riveting drama, sketching out not only the salient facts of Albert Pierrepoint's life but the turmoil in which that life caused in his soul

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/09/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Albert Pierrepoint single-handedly killed over 450 people in his career, dispatching most of them with an icy precision in less than 30 seconds.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
09/07/07
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

Spall is more than worthy of future leading roles.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
08/07/07
Matthew Sorrento
Matthew Sorrento
Film Threat

Overdramatizes Albert's 24-year career.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
07/13/07
Mike Russell
Mike Russell
Oregonian

Based on their press materials, they think they have made a film damning capital punishment and exploring Britain's most famous executioner. In fact, they haven't. But they have made a film of artistic beauty and endless fascination.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
07/10/07
Harry Chotiner
Harry Chotiner
culturevulture.net

Grim and disturbing yet perversely riveting.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
06/22/07
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie grows more compelling in the latter half as British public opinion turns against capital punishment and Pierrepoint begins to have his own doubts.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/21/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There is a great deal of food for thought in a film that personalizes the effects of the death penalty on both the executed and the executioner.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
06/19/07
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A genuine and skillful account of one of Britain's most morally ambiguous working-class characters.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
06/18/07
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

...a powerful pairing of work by two terrific actors [Spall and Stevenson].

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
06/16/07
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
rec.arts.movies.reviews

The very title of this movie seems to message its doom. What could possibly be dramatic enough about Britain's last hangman to carry our interest over a 90-minute film? A whole lot, it turns out.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
06/15/07
Susan Walker
Susan Walker
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A completely engaging film. It's all about performance, and Timothy Spall is riveting as the earnest hangman. If you're desperate for a movie that has nothing to do with sequels or product placement, look no further.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
06/15/07
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

[The film's] grittiness instantly adds to the historically and socio-economically convincing picture of working-class Yorkshire in the last century.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
06/15/07
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Very much a bookend to Vera Drake in its mixture of post war British reserve and ugly reality. [Actor] Spall makes it work, creating a little man with big and terrible secrets.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
06/15/07
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Somewhere in this true story lies a grand statement about what taking lives for a living really does to a person’s moral compass. [Director] Adrian Shergold never quite finds it; his film dutifully recounts the facts but only skims the surface.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
06/09/07
David Fear
David Fear
Time Out New York

The shot angles, the gray look of the film as a whole and Timothy Spall’s spectacular and understated performance as Pierrepoint make this one of the most powerful anti-capital punishment films I’ve seen.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
06/09/07
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

Handsomely crafted and well-acted, but its sense of scale is as constricted as a noose.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
06/09/07
Noel Murray
Noel Murray
AV Club

It's Timothy Spall who really carries the film.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
06/08/07
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

May 31, 2007: Critical Consensus: "Knocked Up" Is A Knockout; "Mr. Brooks," "Gracie" Less So
This week at the movies we've got matters of life ("Knocked Up," starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen), death ("Mr. Brooks," starring Kevin Costner and... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts
53% 53% David & Layla

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Avatar

Avatar

Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video!

Box Office

Box Office

New Moon #1, breaks TDK records

RT's Gift Guide

RT's Gift Guide

Give the best movies, gear, and more!

Ninja Assassin

Ninja Assassin

Learn to train like a ninja in this clip!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
9
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
106
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
  • Forbes Names Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actors Source: Forbes
20
  • Chris Weitz Says He's (Almost) Done with Directing Source: Film School Rejects
26
  • Spider-Man 4 Casting Rumors Multiply Like Rabbits Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
51
  • McTeigue Says Superman Is "In a Weird Place" Source: MTV
204
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
161
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
129
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
97
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
74
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
53
  • Five Favorite Films with Werner Herzog
50
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
35
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
31
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Angels & Demons, Funny People, and Superman
12
  • Ho, ho, ho! It's RT's Great Big Gift Guide!
0
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
0
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
8
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
16
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman at IGN
  • Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
Star Trek DVD Exclusive
Star Trek DVD Exclusive External Link

TECHLAND gives us a first look at the extras, including Leonard Nimoy's last day on set!

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.

New Moon Portraits
New Moon Portraits External Link

TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

Unsexiest Men Alive
Unsexiest Men Alive External Link

Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.