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Effie Gray benefits from its strong cast, elevating a period drama that doesn't strike quite as many narrative sparks as it could.
All Critics (81) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (33) | Rotten (48)
It's deadly dull, clogged with all kinds of string and piano music and sunk by a perplexingly lifeless performance by Dakota Fanning as Gray. Apr 9, 2015 | Full Review…
It's deadly dull, clogged with all kinds of string and piano music and sunk by a perplexingly lifeless performance by Dakota Fanning as Gray.
Wesley Morris
Fanning's controlled presence is ideal for a tale of Victorian repression. But as the film becomes one of quiet liberation, it needs more than her cool reserve. Apr 5, 2015 | Full Review…
Fanning's controlled presence is ideal for a tale of Victorian repression. But as the film becomes one of quiet liberation, it needs more than her cool reserve.
Bilge Ebiri
...attractively shot, appealingly acted, and decorously eye-opening. Apr 3, 2015 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…
...attractively shot, appealingly acted, and decorously eye-opening.
Bob Mondello
Wise, who is noticeably older than the 29-year-old Ruskin was at the time the events occurred in real life, gives a tense, implacable performance, and Fanning is touching. The movie, however, directed by Richard Laxton, could use a lot more oomph. Apr 3, 2015 | Rating: B- | Full Review…
Wise, who is noticeably older than the 29-year-old Ruskin was at the time the events occurred in real life, gives a tense, implacable performance, and Fanning is touching. The movie, however, directed by Richard Laxton, could use a lot more oomph.
Peter Rainer
"Effie Gray" runs 108 minutes, yet it feels like it ends right before the real drama is about to begin. Apr 3, 2015 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
"Effie Gray" runs 108 minutes, yet it feels like it ends right before the real drama is about to begin.
Dan Callahan
With a script by Emma Thompson, you might expect Effie Gray to have the same period-piece poignancy as her 1995 take on Sense and Sensibility. No such luck. Apr 3, 2015 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…
With a script by Emma Thompson, you might expect Effie Gray to have the same period-piece poignancy as her 1995 take on Sense and Sensibility. No such luck.
Chris Nashawaty
Due to Laxton and Thompson's dirge-like approach, their cinematic retelling of the true events does nothing but make you feel lousy and ready for a nap. Mar 14, 2019 | Rating: 5.5/10 | Full Review…
Due to Laxton and Thompson's dirge-like approach, their cinematic retelling of the true events does nothing but make you feel lousy and ready for a nap.
Bernard Boo
Dakota Fanning uses her expressive eyes to portray Effie's inner turmoil and misery and we immediately feel with her. Aug 14, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…
Dakota Fanning uses her expressive eyes to portray Effie's inner turmoil and misery and we immediately feel with her.
Mae Abdulbaki
This is the worst period drama of the year, and the whole cast know it. Feb 18, 2018 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
This is the worst period drama of the year, and the whole cast know it.
Camilla Long
Thompson seems to have intended a feminist parable, but it's hard to believe she couldn't have come up with a better vehicle. Oct 17, 2017 | Full Review…
Thompson seems to have intended a feminist parable, but it's hard to believe she couldn't have come up with a better vehicle.
M. Faust
The film should come alive, but it just lies there, handsomely shot but dramatically inert. Aug 21, 2017 | Full Review…
The film should come alive, but it just lies there, handsomely shot but dramatically inert.
Kathy Fennessy
Effie Gray begins like a fairy tale, before morphing into something richer, more complex, more feminist Aug 14, 2017 | Full Review…
Effie Gray begins like a fairy tale, before morphing into something richer, more complex, more feminist
Alex Heeney
Dakota Fanning stars as Effie Gray in this dramatic period film about a wife's struggle to build a marriage. The story follows a young woman who, after marrying an acclaimed novelist, finds herself being kept at a distance and treated as a burden by her husband and his family despite her best efforts to be a dutiful wife. Fanning gives a good performance and does an impressive job at depicting the desperation of the character to find her place in society. But unfortunately, the plot is slow paced and meanders a lot; which, while effectively shows the character's plight, kills much of the film's momentum. Yet despite its problems, on the whole Effie Gray is a fairly compelling character drama.
Super Reviewer
Some nice scenery and decent acting but moves at a snails pace.
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