Anna Karenina (2012)Movie Reviews

  • Go Based on 8,340 reviews
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  • Must Go!
    Written November 20, 2012

    anna karenina

    by marycaseycc

    The most beautiful movie I have seen this season. Very very special....great acting......everything about it will show your real movie making that takes you on a trip back in time and book.

    • 7 out of 11 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written November 25, 2012

    All the world is a stage?

    by

    It was a beautifully shot film....story is great, of course....but I could have done without the "artsy" theatrical style that's solely used as a device rather than helping the story to move forward. I found it pretty distracting; I found it difficult to stay connected and related to the characters--it's almost as if it couldn't decide whether it was a film or a theatre piece.

    I still think it's a good film. But, would I tell friends they have to run out and see it? Not really.

    • 5 out of 7 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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  • 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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  • 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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  • 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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  • Oh No!
    Written December 26, 2012

    anna kare little

    by examatrix

    I've read this 700+ page Tolstoy monstrosity twice in my lifetime and can tell you that it's a 10 part miniseries, not a two hour movie for a reason. This film is a visually pleasing yet confusing mashup of multiple storylines that were unexplained to the viewer. The sheer inability to compress the story was further wrecked by some out-there aren't-i-so-clever staging making this hideous mess even kookier. What a bore. And I know the story.

    • 4 out of 6 found this review helpful.
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  • Oh No!
    Written November 23, 2012

    Anna Karenina got Moulen-Rouged!

    by igorsat

    Kira Knightly is way over her head, unable to master any kind of emotional complexity. She is totally unbelievable and flat. Jude Law is left to carry the movie, and he does what he can, but can't save this mess. The most boring version of Anna Karenina ever, stay away. If you are in the mood for costume drama, go to see A Royal Affair instead.

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

    When bad casting of a leading role ruins a work of art

    by Russkaya

    It's a crying shame when what is basically a lovely movie, with some of the most gorgeous cinematography and art direction is years, is soured by a horribly-miscast leading role. I refer to Aaron Taylor-Johnson's effeminate and creepy Count Vronsky...looking like the blonde twin of the Colorado Mass Shooter. How on earth can we believe that this creep was the cause of Anna's downfall? The movie started beautifully with the opera-house concept then quickly took a nosedive the moment that Vronsky appears. Additionally, I did not care for some of the odd choreography and wavy hand movements by ballroom dancers in the background -- were they trying to dance the hula? Most distracting. But the worst thing was Taylor-Johnson as Count Vronsky. His looks and manner just 'kill' the story.

    • 8 out of 14 found this review helpful.
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  • No
    Written November 29, 2012

    A DISAPPOINTING REMAKE OF LEO TOLSTOY'S EXCEPTIONAL NOVEL.

    by Peneflix

    Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is an iconic, archival author; his books, required reading in higher education; "War and Peace"(1860's) a massive epic, still resides comfortably in the annuals of finest historical novels ever composed; his genius unquestioned, forever lionized...

    "Anna Karenina" (1875) written at a time when women where chattel; had no power or control over their destinies or the unexpected whims of their hearts; shackled in man-made conventions, rules, restrictions (as crippling as their corsets). "Anna" is woman felled by love and life: married at eighteen, unfamiliar with disruptive, all-consuming passion, marches precipitously towards her sealed fate. She is tragic, but in the twenty-first century, rather stale...

    TWO STARS!!

    ***For full review please visit peneflix(dot)com!!!

    • 8 out of 15 found this review helpful.
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  • I'm In
    Written November 11, 2012
    by reald_time

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  • I'm In
    Written November 3, 2012
    by

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  • I'm In
    Written September 25, 2012
    by NutMeg430

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  • I'm In
    Written November 25, 2012
    by hanserja

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  • I'm In
    Written September 21, 2012
    by

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Anna Karenina (2012) Movie Reviews + Ratings

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amicatonic “...he liked his newspaper, as he did his cigar after dinner, for the slight fog it diffused in his brain.” –Tolstoy #AnnaKarenina

7 hours ago.

natashajonsson Just watched Anna Karenina. It was.. Different, but quite good.. Quite great actually. I can see why it won an Oscar!

8 hours ago.

lwanie Met someone who loved Anna Karenina too, #instantgetalong

9 hours ago.

ArthKitz My in #AnnaKareNina before was Nina played by Kim Delos Santos which will be played by Joyce Ching now. #AnnaKareNinaSaJune3Na

9 hours ago.

ArthKitz I haven't watched the role of Anna in #AnnaKareNina I'm really excited on this. #AnnaKareNinaSaJune3Na

10 hours 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!