Anna Karenina (2012)Movie Reviews


  • Go Based on 8,397 reviews
    Breakdown:
  • So-so
    Written December 10, 2012

    Lets Tolstoy Down

    by 42morebutterbeers

    I was disappointed by this film. Visually it is quite compelling, but the conceit of presenting scenes as though being staged becomes distracting and diminishes the film's content. The novel is a deep and weighty book that treats deep and weighty subjects. In the film, they become superficial, lost in all the pretty pictures. It is all frosting and no cake.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written December 17, 2012

    Beautiful story.

    by

    Disappointing in general, but still worth seeing. Costumes, theatre sets and acting were excellent. The ending was emtional. Glad I saw it, but not good enough to watch twice.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written November 19, 2012

    A gorgeous, daring, brillant marathon

    by 212toni

    Settle in for this groundbreaking extravaganza, which captures almost a thousand pages of Russian epic in about 2 1/2 hours. The costumes alone are enough to keep you enthralled. Amazingly, the bold conceit of depicting the story in a theater, onstage and backstage, a literal metaphor for the glories and constraints of life in 19th century Moscow and St. Petersburg, is in itself thrilling -- besides, as the story swoops from scene to scene like some mad waltz, from time to time, a door opens and we find ourselves confronted with the breathtaking literal vastness of the Russian countryside. You never know where you'll find yourself next. Meanwhile, a ravishing Keira Knightly appears in gown after fabulous gown, each a rich solid color reflecting her current passionate emotion. Her face, often shot in extreme closeup, registers her every thought. Surrender to this movie, and its images will stay with you for a long, long time.

    • 7 out of 10 found this review helpful.
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  • Oh No!
    Written December 4, 2012

    Here's what they don't tell you: this is a musical!

    by review_central

    The big surprise: from the opening curtain ? and there is literally an opening curtain ? most of this story in enacted inside a theater, where hand painted scenery is pushed around, curtains are raised and lowered, and chandeliers drop from the ceiling just in time for the fancy drawing room scene. There are dancers, chorus lines, and quick-change artists who tear off their government uniforms to reveal they are waiters (!) and proceed to serve dinner. The action ? horse races, sleigh rides, big dance numbers, and our lead characters' adultery ? are enacted on a theatrical stage in the phoniest, most clumsily contrived manner possible. About 3/4 of this film seems to have no other purpose than to ridicule Tolstoy. Jude Law is strangely out of place because out of the entire cast he somehow manages to act, competently and with real dignity.

    • 5 out of 6 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written December 17, 2012

    Entertaining but not a must see

    by HanBeMau

    If you like period movies with great scenery and costumes, this is a great choice. But the setting was a bit strange (I don't want to say more as to give it away) and a bit confusing. The plotline is classic "soap opera" and, since I have not read the book, I can't say how true to the plot it was. The acting, however, was very good and it was a good way to spend a rainy Sunday. If you miss it at the movies, DVD is a good option for this movie.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written December 2, 2012

    Anna Karenina

    by FMBTPREFER2

    Movie is very artsy changing between the stage and reality. That proves a bit confusing at first. It is beautifully filmed, but the chemistry between Anna and the Count is flat. Jude Law is excellent as the long suffering husband.

    • 5 out of 7 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written December 9, 2012

    Anna Karenina

    by sjmflm

    Despite beautiful actors and costumes, this was a big disappointment. Way too artsy, was hoping for something more like Dr. Zhivago setting. Husband left midway through - couldn't take it. If you have this as a book assignment and aren't up to reading such a big book or just want to see the costumes or Kiera Knightly, go; otherwise, save your money.

    • 4 out of 5 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written November 25, 2012

    All the World's A Stage

    by iknowbest

    And Anna Karenina makes good use of that concept. An very beautiful, poetic, and supple rendering of a massive novel. My one qualm is that Knightley, although gorgeous and the stuff that dreams are made of, is perhaps a bit too frosty to be convincing as anything other than headstrong; she conveys stuborness more than hopeless love.

    Jude Law is wonderful as the man who gives every opportunity for redemption, although it is hard to believe that Jude Law is the least sexy man in the room.

    The music is just right; not intrusive, and not tear-jerking.

    All in all this is one of the most mature, well developed films I have seen in a while.

    • 6 out of 9 found this review helpful.
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  • Go
    Written December 2, 2012

    Anna Karenina

    by sezaal

    The placing of the movie in a theater became increasingly irrelevant and was even rather irritating. But the acting was good all round and the film was enjoyable. I liked it more than my husband did. Definitely not a kids movie.

    • 4 out of 5 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written December 11, 2012

    Weird Format - Hard to Follow

    by libdev

    I did not care for the format of the movie as a performance within a performance. It made it confusing and I often could not tell whether it was really happening or just in the imagination of the characters. Kiera Knightly was outstanding as was Jude Law. The costumes were amazing! I liked it, but some parts were slow and I was a bit confused with the format.

    • 15 out of 27 found this review helpful.
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  • No
    Written December 2, 2012

    Huge Disappointment

    by ccbball

    It was a great book, but you almost wouldn't know that from the movie. The movie is an attempt to make the story artistic and fun, when really it probably should have let the story do the work. Plus, the artistic touches were overall irritating. For example, the whole movie is stylized as a play despite this being a famous book, not a play. It made no sense to me and created very un-movie-like scene changes.

    • 4 out of 5 found this review helpful.
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  • No
    Written November 25, 2012

    Ugh

    by fannn

    Really difficult to sit through. Plodding and wandering. Took awhile to figure out the supporting characters. Keira Knightly is lovely to look at but there is no chemistry or passion or anything to grab onto with her lover. The story is so convoluted that I was tempted to walk out after 30 min., but i stuck it out.

    • 7 out of 11 found this review helpful.
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  • Go
    Written November 25, 2012

    Not Your Czar's Anna

    by celluloidsweetie

    For those who have been weaned on more traditional cinematic treatments of the Tolstoy tale, this new version may startle, annoy, thrill or elicit a combination of all of these. Joe Wright has liberated the story from the confines of opulent interiors and set it in a theater, with much of the action being literally "played out" on a stage. Yet, opulent costumes and jewelry are fabulously in view, underscoring the grandeur that was imperial Russia. Keira Knightley as Anna delivers a glamorous and complex performance; Jude Law is the very model of the bespectacled, stodgy, dutiful and cuckolded Karenin, right down to his tight lips and receding hairline. With his sculpted facial features, arresting blue eyes and almost flippant confidence, Aaron Johnson is note-perfect as Anna's lover Count Vronsky. Visually beautiful, stylish and stylized (and brave enough to reveal more of the Levin character), "Anna" is a must-see. Long, but never dull.

    • 5 out of 7 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written November 18, 2012

    Anna Karenina

    by ann462

    Definitely not your usual costume drama. And what costumes they were. A mix of contemporary haute couture to a twist on period 1860's+. The men and the women looked fantastic. This movie was a feast on a huge gluttonous groaning board. Transfixed I couldn't get up and had to call for the feather and bucket and feast some more. At times I shook my head....is this a ballet is this a movie is this theatre of the absurd? I was immersed in it despite it's being a bit twee and over the top. I got it, I'm in the business and appreciated what it was doing and was happily along for the surealistic ride. At one point K.Knightly's strings of saliva were a queezy distraction and I found myself swallowing overly much. But that is my pecadillo, moist mouths with too much spittle (shudder). But I dwell too much upon the surface. Her passionate dilemma, his complacency well played engendering sympathy. I supposed her attraction to the very young "dashing" Count. Though as a foil he appeared immature.

    • 8 out of 13 found this review helpful.
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  • Oh No!
    Written December 3, 2012

    Anna Kareninna

    by lwmsmd58

    Really disappointing for Knightley fans. The juxtapostion of stage and film was distracting and made a compelling story seem like a bad dream. The period effects were wasted on the unreal, bizarre presentation. There was no real chemistry between Anna and Vronsky, either. I almost fell asleep during the afternoon matinee and found myself checking my watch as to when it would end.

    • 7 out of 11 found this review helpful.
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Anna Karenina (2012) Movie Reviews + Ratings

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LoveLustLine Someone retweeted my Anna Karenina post. I was watching the movie with Keira Knightley as Anna not the tv show from Ch.7!!!!!!

7 days ago.

Catalysis_Comms #FactOfTheDay Anna Karenina is over 800 pages long, but it was originally published in serialized form. #BookClub

7 days ago.

SaraPMeneses There was something terrible and cruel about her charm #annakarenina #latenightreading

7 days ago.

kirby_mcc Why do they have British accents in "Anna Karenina?" I thought it was set in Russia

7 days ago.

mariachuchus it's a bit late but anna karenina was so good omg

7 days ago.

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Cast Interviews Exclusive Cast Interview Keira Knightley talks about her "tricky" character, Jude Law on his passive-aggressive role and Joe Wright on filming the movie on a stage. More Films on Fandango's Award Watch A sneak peek at Hollywood's race to the Oscars!