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Anonymous
U (INDIA)
2011
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Anonymous
Positive Reviews
51
Negative reviews
35
Average Rating
2.8
/5
positive
anonymous
enjoyable
dramatic
ridiculous
All
Positive
Negative
1.8
Anti Stratfordianism is based on the highly questionable, and prejudiced, notion that a man of Shakespeares genius couldnt possibly have come from com ..
Av Club
1.5
Advertisement Playing Shakespeare as a shameless, egotistical ham, Spalls performance is both the most insulting and the most entertaining element of ..
Av Club
1.5
But Anonymous depiction of the Bard as a braying idiot who couldnt even write his own name simply doesnt make sense.
Den Of Geek
2.0
Cinema has replaced theater as the dominant form of cultural expression, and Emmerichs unwieldy disaster movies illustrate cinemas spectacular possibi ..
Indie Wire
3.5
Roland Emmerich takes a questionable literary controversy and deftly forms it into an Elizabethan political drama in the Shakespeare themed Anonymous.
We Got This Covered
2.0
Mores the pity because, despite all the incest, dramatic thievery, flounces, ruff, and kohl, Anonymous has the tone of a Hallmark Channel holiday spec ..
Austin Chronicle
0.0
The buffoonish Benjamin, horrifically miscast and looking as though hes been up carousing all night, is hardly anyones idea of a keeper and Lillard, d ..
Austin Chronicle
1.5
Anonymous wont make you drastically reevaluate your opinion of Roland Emmerich but hes proved he can deliver an exciting movie which can be enjoyed wi ..
Collider
4.4
Thats no reason to avoid this marvelous historical film, which I believe to be profoundly mistaken.Because of the ingenious screenplay by John Orloff, ..
Rogerebert
4.0
Anonymous might be riper than a month old plum, but its every bit as juicy.
Telegraph
2.5
While that script was wittily irreverent about its historical conjecture, Anonymous takes its absurdities seriously.
The Globe And Mail
2.5
But it is much, much more confusing.Its flashbacks have flashbacks.
Philly
2.5
Its actually much less hard to believe that the job of writing for a bawdy, Elizabethan audience would be fulfilled by a drunken, whoring actor.In fac ..
Philly
3.0
Anonymous presents a rich portrait of London with its dirty streets, its packed bars and brothels, its violent entertainment involving bears and dogs, ..
Spirituality And Practice
5.0
Emmerichs movie is sporadically enjoyable trash with better performances than it has any right to: Hoggs verminous villain leaves a trail of cold, ooz ..
Village Voice
3.8
The paranoid world conjured up by the screenwriter of A Mighty Heart and rendered onscreen by a fellow whose specialty has been end of the world spect ..
Rogers Movie Nation
2.5
Set in the political snake pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ..
Blu Ray
3.8
At its conclusion not everything is entirely clear, but enough pieces fall into place to leave a feeling of satisfaction.
Combust Ible Celluloid
3.0
Still, this is irresistible as self knowing camp: the players ham it up in high fashion and the script crams at least one lurid revelation into every ..
Chicago Reader
2.5
Those murmurs are surely to be bolstered by Anonymous, which posits the nearly century old theory that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford penned what ..
Mark Reviews Movies
3.1
Dubious history aside, Anonymous is a well acted yarn that also is a tribute to the unstoppable force of art even if it implies that only an aristocra ..
Usa Today
2.8
Its tempting to say Anonymous is a disaster of its own kind, but thats not quite true.The costumes, production design, and cinematography are splendid ..
Eric Ds Nider
2.0
Imagine Blackadder made on an epic scale but strained of most of the humour, and youll come close to its essence.
Independent
2.5
Master thespians Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance are called on to sample the Bards greatest hits and give credence to a movie that is nonsense to the nt ..
Rolling Stone
3.0
We probably could have accepted the central authorship story if it hadnt been wrapped in such a lurid stream messy relationships.
Shadows On The Wall
2.0
The Nature of Imitation is the sound of Dorian Concept systematically deconstructing various genres, stripping them back to the bones underneath and t ..
Pop Matters
3.0
The Nature of Imitation is the sound of Dorian Concept systematically deconstructing various genres, stripping them back to the bones underneath and t ..
Pop Matters
2.5
But for all of its excesses, Anonymous is never dull, and it always looks terrific.
The Wrap
2.0
The View London Review out ofstarsRunning time:minsDirected by Roland Emmerich, Anonymous opens with ac tor Derek Jacobi (for it is he) striding onto ..
View London
2.2
But movies have a way of serving as history texts for gullible audiences.
Cs Monitor
4.0
But as richly enjoyable costume dramas go, it makes the grade quite nicely.
Az Central
2.5
I like the idea of an Elizabethan action movie apparently more than I enjoy watching one.
Boston
4.0
The film is so loopyand so convinced that its notthat its pretty irresistible entertainment.Just, for goodness sake, dont take it seriously.
Mountain X
5.0
Now, as silly as most of this is, Anonymous is undeniably a handsome picture.The costumes are gorgeous, with enough velvet and brocade to make everybo ..
Npr
2.5
What a shame their good work is trapped in a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Star Tribune
1.0
The American screenwriter John Orloff may have wished for a muse of fire, but unfortunately hes been given an ear of cloth, and his film would hardly ..
Guardian
3.0
Screenwriter John Orloff and director Roland Emmerich have created an amusing and mischievous Blackadder style romp, enlivened by cheerfully OTT perfo ..
Guardian
3.0
Roland Emmerichs meticulously crafted and often well acted expos of the real William Shakespeare is shocking only in that it is rather good.
Guardian
1.0
It is horribly apparent that the film makers have less knowledge of Shakespeares verse and Elizabethan history than many literate 13 year olds.
Daily Mail
2.2
But scholarly debate about the Shakespeare Authorship Question has little to do with this tale told by an idiosyncratic moviemaker up to little more t ..
Ew
2.0
But whats disappointing about Anonymous is that it isnt dumb enough.
Slate
2.0
Its completely preposterous but works within its own barking logic.
Empire
3.5
Susan Grangers review of Anonymous (Columbia Pictures/Sony) Who wrote Shakespeares plays
Susang Ranger
3.0
Still, while the film is entertaining, some viewers might not be sure whether to take it as historical fact or simply a fanciful yarn.
Common Sense Media
2.0
But all in all the dreary script creates a glass ceiling that the film could never bust through, more laugh inducing than controversy inspiring.
Movies
2.0
Lets say youre really out to state a case.Then by all means what you should do next is take your facts or suggestions or coincidences or whatever they ..
Movies
1.9
Through his 2000 Year Old Man character, Mel Brooks sniped memorably at Shakespeare (The First Folios
Slant Magazine
3.1
Yet you cannot imagine anyone else making it, certainly not with such a rollicking belief in its own nutty bombast.
Chicago Tribune
3.0
Its all a bit ridiculous, yes, but one should never let facts get in the way of a good story.
Bullz-Eye
2.8
I cannot say I was pleasantly surprise the story is muddled with frequent and often inexplicable flash backs, confusingly presenting most of the chara ..
Reeling Reviews
2.8
I cannot say I was pleasantly surprise the story is muddled with frequent and often inexplicable flash backs, confusingly presenting most of the chara ..
Reeling Reviews
1.5
This is a ridiculous movie.Not the funny, wicked sort of ridiculous, but the overblown and histrionic sort of ridiculous.
Flickfilosopher
2.0
The loud, overwrought Anonymous is an affront to the richness and beauty of Shakespeares workno matter who really wrote it.
Las Vegas Weekly
2.0
8 things to watch out for this week Feature Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 multiplayer beta debuts on PS4, Monster Hunter World hits PC and Better Call Sau ..
Total Film
3.8
This also has the intended effect of transforming the movies narrative into a tragedy with Shakespearean overtones.
ReelViews
5.0
His British actors deliver their usual reliable performances while designers and digital environmentalist stunningly re create Elizabethan London righ ..
Hollywood Reporter
2.5
Though this is the most widespread alternative theory of Shakespearian authorship nowadays, its not a terribly persuasive one, as it depends on a vari ..
The Atlantic
2.2
It manages to take itself too seriously and yet not seriously enough.
Coles Mithey
3.5
That might sound like costume drama taken to deadly boring academic extremes.
Los Angeles Times
3.5
Pic is likely to encounter commercial headwinds faced by any historical movie, but may get a lift from press accounts of inevitable controversy when c ..
Variety
2.5
Okay, but audiences will excuse anything if a story works on its own dramatic terms.
Groucho Reviews
3.5
If theyre consigned to the faraway past, they can be quite fun.The kookier, the better.
Herald Sun
0.0
Its a solid premise thats generally employed to relatively positive effect by director and cowriter Emmerich, as the film which seems to have been str ..
Reel Film
2.0
This is not to say that hack directors cant be thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
7M Pictures
5.0
I could write so much more about the film, its ideas, its characters, the history and what might have been.Suffice to say, this is a film worthy of di ..
Urban Cine File
3.1
Like those films, Anonymous is a thoroughly entertaining load of eye candy with solid performances, even if John Orloffs exposition heavy script pract ..
New York Post
2.0
He may be a master of apocalyptic action thrills, but rocking the literary world off its axis proves a stretch too far for the Hollywood stalwart.
Digital Spy
1.9
In more than two long hours, all the movie gets right are the accents and the costumes.
Red Eye Chicago
1.3
Had he continued to stand there and weave the tale with nothing but his own words, the film would have been visually spare but enrapturing all the sam ..
Dustin Put Man
4.5
Like being ordered to have long hair and smile on stage, but wondering how to smile with a trombone in your mouth.Or repeatedly told youre not good en ..
News Blaze
4.5
This is high calorie movie making but that richness leads to a surprisingly satisfying film.
Hollywood And Fine
2.0
Bountiful in look and scandal yet convoluted in plot and historical validity, Anonymous tries to be a serious work of art but doesnt have the credibil ..
Matts Movie Reviews
3.2
The reference is made early in the film that this is a fight that can be won with words as opposed to swords.Perhaps there is an element of truth in t ..
The Film Pie
4.4
And as for conspiracy theories, this one is entertainingly plausible without being persuasive.
Js Online
1.0
Theres absolutely nothing pleasurable about this self serious and remarkably stupid drama.
Hollywood Chicago
4.3
Its hard to tell whether Shakespeare enthusiasts will appreciate this semi fictionalized version of history or where the story takes it, but if nothin ..
ComingSoon
3.0
Shakespeare himself would probably love it. He did write Twelfth Night, for goodness sake.
Sky
3.5
For those film buffs who never expected to see Roland Emmerich associated with Shakespeare, let alone in a favourable light, heres a major surprise: t ..
Sbs
3.0
Dont let the fact that its different or unadulterated bullshit of the highest order put you off a story that, in truth, is more interesting than it is ..
The Shiz Nit
2.5
But in the end, the best you can say about Anonymous is that its something Shakespeare himself knew well an entertainment, more diverting than engagin ..
Mercury News
2.0
It may be ahistorical to a frame, but Emmerichs film isnt a total hunchback.
The Ooh Tray
2.0
It is also true someone could craft a thrilling, intriguing and engaging movie out of this premise.
Streaming Quickflix
3.0
Much ado about very little, in the long run, but fun with an XL bag of popcorn.
East Bay Express
4.0
These elements, along with fine performances, made the movie enjoyable for me.
Review Express
3.5
The movie doesnt just ask us to throw out all we thought we knew about Shakespeare.
Entertainment Time
3.0
The cast seems game for the time period jumps but the film sometimes slows down and it becomes unclear what period youre watching.And what a cast it i ..
Media Mikes
3.0
And there still museums with pay what you wish admission, if not every day, then on certain days weekly or monthly.You just have to know who offers wh ..
New York Time Out
3.0
Anonymous didnt have me rethinking history, but for those two hours, it was entertaining enough.
The Scorecard Review
2.0
Anonymous looks gorgeous, with beautiful costumes, production design and solid special effects work to bring Elizabethan England to life.
Movies Ign
5.0
To accurately and intelligently follow ANONYMOUS, you need a copy of Burkes Peerage.
Film Festival Today
2.5
Still, the cast is impressive, and the story even soapier than The Tudors, if you like that sort of thing.
Miami
3.5
His films deliver the thrills and excitement through a combination of engaging characters, narratives with a reasonably coherent inner logic and actua ..
Cinema Autopsy
2.5
If its hard to believe that a country boy from Stratford wrote the plays, it is even harder to believe this story.Sadly, the frenzied tone does not pr ..
Huffing Ton Post
2.5
Chicago Entertainment Metromix Picks Chicagos 2018 Haunted Houses Guide Get some nightmare fuel at these haunted attractions Chicagos 2018 Bib Gourman ..
New York Metro Mix
1.0
Bereft of comedy, Anonymous is the cinematic equivalent of limp celery.
Birmingham Mail
3.0
Wednesday October 26th 2011 Though the bulk of the movie is set in a beautifully rendered Elizabethan London, Roland Emmerichs historical epic Anonymo ..
Ultra Culture
3.0
It may not be worth seriously considering in the long run, but it makes for a fanciful two hour romp.
American Profile
2.0
Anonymous, as it turns out, is an apt title for this entertaining nonsense as thats likely to be the swift fate of Emmerichs Edsel of a movie.
Windy City Media Group
4.5
This film is not really about promoting an alternate theory of authorship so much as presenting an intriguing (if unlikely) scenario and seeing how it ..
Ticket Sarasota
5.0
All the fixins for a convoluted, costume drama of, dare I say it, Shakespearean proportions.
Aalbc It
2.5
Despite its flaws, Anonymous has a few interesting ideas at its heart and it is staged well by Emmerich.
Breit Bart
3.5
If more than several hours pass without your comment being approved, it has likely been blocked for some reason, so please feel free to try posting ag ..
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Anonymous