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Mr. Turner

Play trailer Poster for Mr. Turner R 2014 2h 29m Biography History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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96% Tomatometer 189 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall) lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper (Paul Jesson) bears an unrequited love for him.
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Mr. Turner

Mr. Turner

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Critics Consensus

Led by a masterful performance from Timothy Spall and brilliantly directed by Mike Leigh, Mr. Turner is a superior Hollywood biopic.

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Critics Reviews

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Rafer Guzman Newsday Feb 6, 2015
4/4
Mike Leigh's biopic is so richly detailed that it feels like a documentary. Spall goes for broke in the outsize title role. Go to Full Review Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle Feb 2, 2015
4/5
There is little in the way of narrative eventfulness in the film, but Leigh luxuriates in the moments, and provides glimpses of what it takes to be an artist amid the fray. Go to Full Review Moira MacDonald Seattle Times Jan 22, 2015
3.5/4
You leave "Mr. Turner," as with all good fact-based films, wanting to know more about this man and his work - and remembering that beautiful, almost touchable light, on the canvas and on the screen. Go to Full Review Christos Tsiolkas The Saturday Paper Aug 19, 2026
Mike Leigh allows us to understand how social and economic class is written as much on the body as it is expressed in language. Go to Full Review Don Shanahan Every Movie Has a Lesson Jul 20, 2025
2/5
As beautifully presented as "Mr. Turner" is at telling the story of English Romanticist painter J.M.W. Turner, too much of it is uninteresting, familiar in tone, and predictable in execution. Go to Full Review Ross McIndoe The Skinny Jul 4, 2024
4/5
Spall's Turner grunts his way through whole conversations before bursting into sprawling surges of grandiloquence and wit. He is equally entertaining in both modes. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Robert P @Superbad Sep 19, 2026 Mr. Turner = a 4 star Movie! See more Tom M @RT77934561 Oct 7, 2025 Spall plays Turner as a grunting pig...occasionally a rutting pig. But Turner is also a painter of extraordinary genius. This is a depiction of his ordinary life which is quite odd in its own way. A mystery he remains. At turns coarse, vulgar and dismissive, he is also loving ,expressive and altruistic. See more Graham M @Greyzer Jul 1, 2024 Don't miss this film! It's what movies are all about. See more Red R @RT80421915 May 24, 2024 Phenomenal Masterpiece. See more NR D @NRD2845 May 10, 2024 Beautiful movie. The set and costume for the period seemed near perfect. Acting was superb. Without doubt the camera work was extraordinary. Dorothy Atkinson's performance as the housekeeper was Oscar nomination worthy and leaves a long memory of her work on this film. See more Alec B @Alec97 Dec 13, 2023 Where most biopics exaggerate certain events and revel in anachronism in order to be inspiring, Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner" takes the completely opposite approach. He examines J.M.W. Turner from middle age to death through a series of scenes that mostly showcase the man's prickly and contradictory nature. There isn't even much shown of Turner's creative process, instead any scenes about his paintings tends to focus on the public's perceptions of them. Its an interesting choice, and one that shouldn't surprise anyone given how Leigh works. Also, I'd be remiss not to mention Spall's brilliant performance, finding humanity in such a unpleasant genius was no easy task. See more Read all reviews
Mr. Turner

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Cast & Crew

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Mike Leigh

Director

Timothy Spall

J.M.W. Turner

Paul Jesson

William Turner

Dorothy Atkinson

Hannah Danby

Marion Bailey

Sophia Booth

Karl Johnson

Mr. Booth

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Mr. Turner

Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner in "Mr. Turner." (L-R) Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner, Clive Francis as Sir Martin Archer Shee and Simon Chandler as Sir Augustus Wall Callcott in "Mr. Turner." Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner and Eleanor Yates as Effie Ruskin in "Mr. Turner." (L-R) Ruth Sheen as Sarah Danby, Paul Jesson as William Turner, Dorothy Atkinson as Hannah Danby, Amy Dawson as Georgiana and Sandy Foster as Evelina in "Mr. Turner." Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner in "Mr. Turner." Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner in "Mr. Turner." Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner in "Mr. Turner." Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner in "Mr. Turner." Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner in "Mr. Turner." Marion Bailey as Sophia Booth and Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner in "Mr. Turner." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall) lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper (Paul Jesson) bears an unrequited love for him.
Director
Mike Leigh
Producer
Georgina Lowe
Screenwriter
Mike Leigh
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Xofa Productions, Lipsync Productions, Diaphana Films, France 3 Cinéma, Thin Man Films, Amusement Park Films
Rating
R (Some Sexual Content)
Genre
Biography, History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 19, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$4.2M
Runtime
2h 29m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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