71
Metascore
40 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreIf it isn’t as decorous and deft as the Jane Austen romances of an earlier literary (and cinematic) age, the longing is still there in a story that feels more lived-in, brutish and realistic.
- 80EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoExtremely well done and well acted, it’s an attractive, appealing, involving adaptation, just not as iconic as the ’60s film.
- Fresh enough to engage newcomers, respectful enough to appease scholars, this is – for genre fans – pure period-drama porn.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyGiven the challenge of solving a problem like Bathsheba, Mulligan succeeds, more than Christie did, in providing an answer.
- 70VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasWhat does register at every turn is a vibrant sense of time and place that pulls us into Hardy’s bygone world even when the drama falters.
- 63Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoThe lack of real analysis or consideration leaves this perilously close to a Goldilocks-style depiction of privileged female indecision.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThere is ultimately something very unbalanced in this movie: the female lead and one male support are outstanding; another supporting male is fine and the third is frankly uncomfortable and miscast.
- 60Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganIt’s a title to be admired, certainly, but for all its visual fireworks, Far From The Madding Crowd doesn’t truly ignite an emotional spark.
- 60The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneHardy gave his heroine a symphonic range, and all an actress can do is pick out certain tones and strains — the fluted whimsy by which Bathsheba is occasionally stirred, or the brassiness of her anger. Julie Christie was the more accomplished flirt, and her beauty was composed of fire and air, whereas Mulligan relies more darkly on earth and water.
- 50Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekVillage VoiceStephanie ZacharekAs written by Hardy, Bathsheba is bracingly whole and human; here she’s been outlined, and thus circumscribed, by an eager student’s highlighter.