Metacritic Movie Ratings
Wuthering Heights Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 83

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  Willful, meandering, and intriguing, this Wuthering Heights is similarly headstrong.

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• 80

  out of 100

  Time

  Faithful and bold adaptation.

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• 75

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  What she hasn't done is make a terrifically entertaining film. Although this version dumps many of the novel's passages, particularly from the later chapters, it's dreary and slow-paced, heavy on atmosphere, introverted. I suppose life on an isolated moor was like that at the time, but do we need this much atmosphere?

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• 70

  out of 100

  Village Voice

  Heathcliff does not get the revenge he wants because he wants to escape the specific traumas of his adolescent past, shown in the film's first half. And because Arnold traps her viewers with Heathcliff's murky version of events. There's no room for enriching subtext in this version of Wuthering Heights because all the information we need is inscribed on the film's glassy surface.

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• 70

  out of 100

  The New York TimesA.O. Scott

  The grunts and howls seem every bit as mannered as the florid diction of Olivier and Oberon, perhaps even more so. Their artifice, like Brontë's own, was overt, whereas Ms. Arnold strives to disguise hers in the trappings of authenticity. And as a result, the impact - the grandeur, the art - of Wuthering Heights is diminished.

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• 63

  out of 100

  Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips

  Arnold's interpretation is taciturn, often entirely without dialogue, though it becomes increasingly conventional in its scene structure as it goes and as the actors hand off the key roles. In reality it's a bit of a slog. ... The movie plays like an idea for a 'Wuthering Heights' adaptation.

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• 60

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

  It's just that there isn't enough story - the book shouldn't be required reading for the film to make sense.

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• 50

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  The new Wuthering Heightsis all gloomy moors and muck, but not much convincing passion.

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