As for young master Bettany, his Nicholas never managed to convince at all. His priest was insufficiently Godfearing, his adulterer not lusty enough, his actor too facile, and his detective too forensic.

| Jan 9, 2018

A strong screenplay coupled with an interesting cinematic structure and great images make this an engaging film with tension and texture

| Aug 18, 2014

It's a shame the story's such a stinker, because this is one great-looking movie.

| Sep 16, 2005

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 6, 2005

[It's] a film with a lot on its mind -- perhaps too much. ... As it is, philosophical dilemmas spread through the film like a plague until they finally claim its life.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 1, 2005

It's disappointing that The Reckoning devolves into a costumed murder mystery a la Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1986 film of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 29, 2005

Although raising intriguing questions about the moral obligation dramatists have to throw a spotlight on taboo subjects, The Reckoning offers simplistic solutions.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 8, 2004

Builds cleverly as the mystery deepens, then struggles to bring it all to a conclusion.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 5, 2004

A well-done murder mystery.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 3, 2004

Wraps itself around Bettany's guilty secrets like a hot-water bottle, leaving more interesting characters in the moral cold

| Jun 2, 2004

A multilayered snapshot of a decayed and disintegrating feudal system that richly develops themes and characters with an eerie modern resonance.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 13, 2004

It is, despite the distractions, just a simple murder story, and the revelations in the end are hardly surprising or noteworthy.

| Original Score: C+ | Apr 24, 2004

As an existential awakening into the light and triumph of rational thought over superstition, it's an engaging film, but as a murder mystery it plods along as though weighted down by the heavens and more.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 17, 2004

A challenging and thought-provoking film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 16, 2004

... the premise and setting that are intriguing, but the obvious foreshadowing and labored attempt to slowly unravel the facts surrounding the plot are drawbacks.

| Apr 9, 2004

All that black, combined with the mundanity of the second act, induces us to close our eyes.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 9, 2004

May be as dreary and hopeless as the Middle Ages themselves.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 9, 2004

The interesting insights give way to undercover constables, and gut-spilling villains

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 9, 2004

Collapses under the weight of unlikely melodrama and over-pretty visual flourishes...

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 5, 2004

It's as if the filmmakers had a 14th-century audience in mind, one that had never seen a movie.

| Original Score: C- | Apr 2, 2004