The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
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Critics Consensus: Lizzie forces audiences to take a new look at a widely known true-crime story -- even if the well-acted end result is never quite as gripping as it could be.
Critic Consensus: Lizzie forces audiences to take a new look at a widely known true-crime story -- even if the well-acted end result is never quite as gripping as it could be.
All Critics (134) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (87) | Rotten (47)
The element of horror is treated circumspectly, almost dispassionately, as if to douse its mythic element in as much cold reality as possible.
For all the horror of her situation, Lizzie needed some larger motivation to wield her axe. Lizzie dramatically provides it.
Unfortunately, despite a couple of solid performances, the film doesn't break any new ground or offer any particular illumination on these grisly crimes.
The movie tackles [Lizzie's sexual awakening] much more head-on -- and explicitly -- than other depictions of Borden's life, including a recent Lifetime movie and series, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles.
When the time comes for the famous axe and whacks, Lizzie reveals itself as more Greek tragedy than murder mystery - a depiction of feminine ferocity and ingenuity in the face of injustice.
Borden was a cold-blooded killer, and the handsomely crafted, at times laborious Lizzie takes a step back and examines her story in a semi-modern context.
Takes its title character out of folk history and rewrites her as a queer proto-feminist battling against the worst excesses of patriarchal power.
A thriller that is never unsettling soon becomes a triviality. And that's exactly what Lizzie is.
Releasing into an environment where its story feels both relevant and very of its time, Lizzie is a curious mix of genres, and certainly more graphic than you'd expect, but never coheres into a compelling whole.
A two-hander with actresses of this calibre should be a humdinger, but very little about this misjudged period drama works properly.
Despite all it has going for it, Lizzie is a stilted affair that leaves its gifted actresses adrift.
Retelling the story from the female perspective, it's rather sterile at times, hampered by flaccid pacing. But Sevigny is unforgettable as Borden.
The story behind the nursery rhyme in all of its naked violence. Slow in parts but is salvaged in the long run with very fine performances most notably Kristen Stewart who is a most improved actress. (9-29-18)
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