AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Sameer Callahan
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
SnoopyStyle
It's 1380 England. Norman barons have ruled for 300 years. Both the church and state work together to maintain the absolute rule. Nicholas (Paul Bettany) is a monk who had an affair with a married woman and must go on the run. He witnesses a group of traveling performers kill a man. Martin (Willem Dafoe) explains that their leader was old and begged to be killed. Nicholas is taken into the troupe. They arrive in a village where a woman is sentenced to hang for murdering a boy with testimony from monk Simon Damian (Ewen Bremner). Their performance fails to get much of an audience. Martin decides to make up a new play based on the boy's murder but they soon discover more to the story.I like this murky ugly world of the medieval traveling entertainers. The story is a bit too complicated and a bit too talky. I do like the heated debate about creating a story not from the bible. The cast is full of first rate talents. The acting is superb. The problem is that the movie is juggling too many balls. In addition to the mystery, Nicholas is haunted by the constant flashbacks. The cast is so full of great actors that it's a scramble to follow everybody. This is a movie in need of some trimming.
Bobske_
This review contains a few small spoilers.I love films with a medieval setting. I also love murder mysteries. You can image how much I was looking forward to seeing this film...The movie contains an amazing cast including Vincent Cassel, Paul Bettany, Brian Cox, Willem Dafoe and Ewen Bremner. With a cast like this you can expect great performances. Unfortunately, many members of this great ensemble cast have very little screen time. Brian Cox and Vincent Cassel have a few lines but perform these lines with conviction.The film has a very promising start but quickly looses a lot of it's credibility. A priest fallen from his faith, that still performs burial rituals while casting aside the whole foundation of plays in that time. I got the feeling, that Bettany's character was a priest when needed to be and a priest fallen from his faith when the situation called for it. The film tries to portray Bettany as a modern priest in difficult time (all odds are against him) but unfortunately fails miserably, IMHO. Although the performances were great, the cinematography amazing and the soundtrack mesmerizing, the story couldn't convince me. That is why I have given this film 7 stars.In short, The Reckoning is an ambitious and entertaining film, but if you want to see a good medieval murder mystery, go see Cadfael or Der Name der Rose.
mstomaso
Nikolas (Paul Bettany) is a 14th (or so) century priest with a guilty conscience. Guilty of adultery, he exiles himself to the countryside and casts his lot with a group of itinerant theatrical players lead by Martin (DaFoe). Though Nikolas has no discernible acting talent, the troupe begins to grow attached to him, especially as he develops an interest in the mystery of the disappearance and death of several young boys in a small town the players have come to visit. Nikolas exhumes the corpse, attracting the attention and ire of the local magistrate, and discovers a cover-up and conspiracy which his conscience can not allow to go unexposed. Since the courts, the local law enforcement, the church and the local nobility will not listen, Nikolas must plead his case to the citizenry. The troupe takes up the task using their well honed talents.This is a very clever, well written, very well filmed, carefully planned piece of historical fiction. The medieval period is portrayed with far greater accuracy and sensitivity than the usual contemporary film affords, though its cleanliness is a bit absurd, the set is magnificent and reminiscent of Herzog's talents in creating a historic context. The language of the film is also as authentic as it could be without resorting to archaic tongues few would understand. The acting is exceptional, though a couple of Bettany's soliloquies were a little predictably presented (he seems to do a lot of this sort of thing) with DaFoe and Gina McKee providing especially touching and intense performances.The acting and strong script combine to make The Reckoning as good as a character study as it is as a dramatic mystery. It is not, however, a fast paced thriller and will undoubtedly disappoint those used to the style of mystery currently in vogue - that is guns-a-blazin' sex and violence-decorated kill-fests. If you're not in the mood for a slow-moving but intense film experience, avoid The Reckoning. If you want to be immersed in a different, but very real, world, and experience a contemporary issue through the eyes of those who live in that world, see it.
A_Roode
'The Reckoning' is set in the middle ages in England. It is the story of a priest with a past (Bettany), a troupe of travelling actors, and a murder in a small village. All is not as it appears and although the answers will probably be clear to the viewer, it is in my opinion a story worth investigating. This movie is one that got away. Paramount was slow and unenthusiastic in its distribution and marketing. That's a shame because 'The Reckoning' has a great cast and a decent story.The basic story is about a priest with a secret, a group of travelling players and a murder in a small village where all may not be as it seems. The players (led by Willem Dafoe, Brian Cox and Gina McKee)are finding it increasingly difficult to earn a living. The only material performed are stories from the Bible and with competition from larger town guilds (Sheffield, York, Wakefield) where denizens can see everything in a week, smaller ensembles like the travelling one are finding it more difficult to survive. Upon reaching the village and learning of the recent murder (and imminent hanging of the murderer) Dafoe and players decide to perform the murder in an attempt to reinvigorate their flagging fortunes. Brian Cox has a pretty telling line after a first performance has measly results. He notes that in the old days they'd have gotten six shillings while now it's only two. This in itself was initially what attracted me to the film. It is an interesting point in theatrical history between liturgical dramas that were organized by the church and the Tudor period of English Renaissance theatre. I like to think that the film carries a subtle in-joke about the state of movie going as well: Multiplexes wiping out single theatre cinemas and part of the reason that this film didn't receive a generous release.But I digress. The story really picks up when the troupe tries to learn about the murder so that they can perform it. They're attempt is controversial for breaking with tradition, but also for its sensational aspect (the boy has just been buried) and the fact that they're retelling isn't what the village suspects the truth to be. I'll say no more of the plot as no to spoil it. The heart of the movie is character and the lead character is Paul Bettany's priest There are some who may find the priest dim, or meddlesome. I admit it was clear pretty almost immediately who the main villain of the film was and what his crimes were. The movie for me was more interesting as one where a character who is bright but fallible tries to piece the mystery together and unravel the conspiracy. Considering the silence he works with when he asks questions, I don't think his work is that bad at putting pieces together until the inevitable conclusion.Unintrusive score earns points, great atmosphere and good performances from a half a step behind Bettany, a world weary AC-Tor Brian Cox, imaginative and inventive Willem Dafoe and serpentine Vincent Cassel. Intelligent enough to work the little grey matter between your ears and with a decent question about salvation and redemption, 'The Reckoning' is worthwhile. Throw in a philosophical debate on the nature of a God who allows war, suffering and plague and it was enough to keep me engaged. Watch it if you can find it, 'The Reckoning' was under-rated and unfairly missed.
