The Libertine (2005) Critic Reviews

This one-of-a-kind spellbinder from first-time director Laurence Dunmore is not afraid to shock. Depp is a raunchy wonder, especially in a time-capsule-worthy opening monologue.Read the full review

Depp accepts the character and all of its baggage, and works without a net.Read the full review

Johnny Depp makes a riveting antihero in a dark and bawdy period drama.Read the full review

The rhythms of the dialogue move to the same beat as steadily as a metronome ticks and tocks, while every sentence is polished like stone, absent the jaggedness of real breath and life. You can hear the play in this thing without even knowing it was based on a theatrical production.Read the full review

Starting out seductive but ending up tiresome, debuting director Laurence Dunmore's pic is an honorable misfire.Read the full review

A glorious disaster.Read the full review

If your idea of a good time is watching a disjointed period piece featuring a scrawny dog defecating, dozens of dissipated people fornicating and a syphilitic Johnny Depp with oozing pustules on his face, The Libertine may be just the movie for you.Read the full review

Dunmore creates a memorably grimy London, but the moral grime covering the film proves less memorable.Read the full review

A trying experience. As we watch Rochester fall apart in spectacular fashion, it's clear that a major lure for the venturesome Depp was the chance to play a grotesque, to become a pestilent physical wreck with an artificial silver nose. There's more in that role for the actor, however, than there is for us.Read the full review