Metacritic Movie Ratings
W.E. Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 63

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  There is little human interest or excitement. It isn't written that way. The music and the dialogue seem curiously even and muted, and there aren't the kinds of drama we expect in a biopic. Everyone is too restrained and discreet to expose themselves that way.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  As easy on the eyes and ears as it is embalmed from any dramatic point of view.

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• 42

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  The movie is a folly, a desultory vanity project for its director and co-writer. But for those very reasons, W.E., by world-renowned personage and lesser-known filmmaker Madonna, is not without twisted interest.

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• 40

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

  W.E., Madonna's second go at directing a feature film, leaves one wishing she'd find other creative outlets for those times when she's bored with the pop-star life.

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• 40

  out of 100

  VarietyLeslie Felperin

  Burdened with risible dialogue and weak performances, picture doesn't have much going for it apart from lavish production design and terrific, well-researched costumes -- and it's in focus, which is more than can be said for the script.

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• 40

  out of 100

  The New York TimesManohla Dargis

  The upshot is that instead of a film about a love that conquered a king and nearly undid a kingdom, Madonna has come up with a female friendship movie, which would be fine if she weren't busy trying to prove her art-film bona fides.

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• 40

  out of 100

  The New YorkerAnthony Lane

  With its restless parade of grainy closeups, the movie is a haze of retro rapture and wishful thinking, and, above all, a lost opportunity. We don't want to hear any more about ancient constitutional crises. We want to watch a three-way with a former King of England, in a bungalow. Madonna, of all people, missed a trick.

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• 20

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJohn Anderson

  The director's apparent blindness to the epic banality of her subjects suggests that the whole project is one royally misguided mess.

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• 0

  out of 100

  TimeRichard Corliss

  It's a shame that W.E. smells so bad.

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