Anna Karenina (2012)Movie Reviews

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  • So-so
    Written December 16, 2012

    Weird production choice

    by Ivana Vital

    The idea that it's played out in some sort of "operetta" was a weird production decision. It was difficult to know who was doing what, where. It moved verrrry fast. The story is CLASSIC and a must-read for anyone who ever enjoyed a high school english class where the concepts of theme, irony, symbolism, foreshadowing, etc. are the focus. The story is FULL of that and double meanings. I would have enjoyed it much more if it was just played out as a regular movie with a story and a set - period. Although, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is so crazy, incredibly GORGEOUS it's almost worth seeing just for that! The acting was great but the premise was...well...not for everyone. Unfortunately I'd suspect that more people hated it than enjoyed it just for that reason alone. Which is a shame because the story is timeless and classic.

    • 4 out of 4 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 8 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written November 24, 2012

    Anna Karenina

    by deanna100

    I loved the book. When I saw this movie was being made, I followed it on face book, I was so excited. I expected a Dr. Zhivago type epic. The movie was beautiful, fabulous costumes, sets and scenery. But that is where it stopped for me. I thought the acting was fine, but I felt no chemistry at all. I felt the scenes being shot as they were on stage was very distracting from the story and caused it to be very disjointed. Very touching moments were ruined as the camera backed up and they were on stage. Instead of feeling the moment, I thought, what on earth? Yes, I was disappointed.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 7, 2012

    Knightly is Perfect

    by akozlosk

    Kira Knightly "was" Anna in this movie. Her plunge into despair was heartbreaking. The costuming was breathtaking as well, the dresses looked like those I viewed in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written December 31, 2012

    ugh . . . .

    by kjstrom

    Thankfully my daughter told me about the whole "set on a stage" scenario of this movie, otherwise I would have been completely baffled. Even being prepared for it, though, I thought it was really strange. I didn't like that at all. I wish it had just been shot like a normal movie. Maybe I'm just not "artsy" enough, but it really kind of ruined the movie for me.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • Go
    Written December 11, 2012

    Anna Karenina (2012)

    by otustani

    I have mixed feelings about this movie. It took me a while to get used to the thaeatrical staging and props. It is creative and interesting. Definitely woth a look!

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

    Story line was good but scene transitions were annoying

    by labutlercpa

    I enjoyed the story line, as I had not read the book. However, they transitioned between scenes as if it was a play. That made it very hard to get into the story and feel compassion or any other type of feeling for the characters because the transitions took you out of the story. I would wait for video.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • Oh No!
    Written November 26, 2012

    Too Bad No One Read the Book

    by Jonathan A Weiss

    Tom Stoppard's script desecrates a great novel. The use of a stage, based on a one line reference, is absurd; the operetta music and clerk scenes. ridiculous, and the constant opening and shutting of doors, annoying. Anna is complex. Here an overwrough Miss Knightly plays here as a neurotic. Vronsky is reduced to his looks. Karenin is made almost noble in his rigidity. The photography6 is lugubrious. Shooting it in Russia did not help in 1997, it helped less now. A complete failure.

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

    Not so sexy Vronsky!

    by Nana Rabbit

    Beautifully staged, with an operatic feel. Knightly and Law do a wonderful job but the casting of Taylor-Johnson was off the mark. Vronsky is supposed to be the man Anna would risk all for but Taylor-Johnson's effete young soldier didn't inspire passion as much as puzzlement. Why would Anna throw everything away for him? A little hard to follow at times, it helps if one has read the book.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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    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 4 found this review helpful.
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    Written November 25, 2012

    Too much surrealism.

    by doclewk

    I liked some of the acting, and the dialog was very good. But the surrealism I found distracting to the story. The music, costumes and cinematography were phenomenal, though.

    • 6 out of 8 found this review helpful.
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  • No
    Written November 24, 2012

    A Beautiful Beast

    by

    I'm referring to the film, not to its Anna. Knightly's portrayal isn't worthy of such strong descriptive words. Admittedly, she wan't bad...until she opened her mouth. In truth, the film would've been much richer had it been a silent one. Wright never fails visually. There is no doubting that this adaptation is ambitious and imaginative, but, in the physical world, one's ambitions are nearly always unmet. I found myself cringing during dialogue. Tom Stoppard is an extraordinary writer, but neither him nor Wright were good conductors of Tolstoy's ideas. The script seemed unaware of the vision, and the vision of the words. I felt as if I was listening to a high school literature teacher, finger on the fast-forward button, struggle to hit all the major plot points of a book-on-tape. The dialogue only served to make the story feel rushed and the viewer spoon-fed. Setting it in a theatre was brilliant, but the too-literalness of this literary classic was not.

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written November 18, 2012

    Very pretty, but....

    by raskin46

    This isn't Pride and Prejudice....it's more a Chanel commercial for Tolstoy. The movie is very stylized to the detriment of characterization....Count Vronksy is a 19th Century club kid until he suddenly becomes emotionally adult (but nothing leads you to that conclusion) and the same goes with Anna, the dutiful wife who shuns Vronsky and then is suddenly in bed with him and on and on. I really liked Matthew Macfadyen (who teams up with Knightley again), as Anna's brother...I've never seen him so alive and animated (he usually seems dull and plodding). I'd say go see it if you like Tolstoy....but despite the beauty, I was struggling to literally stay awake at 10am on a Saturday morning.

    • 8 out of 12 found this review helpful.
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  • So-so
    Written November 27, 2012

    Gorgeous but otherwise......

    by altschiller

    If sets, costumes and jewelry are your thing, don't miss it. Otherwise it's turgid, and miscast in it's most important role--Count Vronsky. Jude Law's Karenina may be stiff and formal, but he's kind, Arron Taylor-Johnson is foppish and insipid. Why would she leave her son, her life's love, for a fop?

    • 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 2, 2012

    Excellent movie even if only 1/10th of book

    by hskaplan

    This was the love story and not the philosophical treatise on nearly everything. I am not much for love stories as the major theme, but this is among the best. The staging was extremely creative and for that alone it is a Must Go.

    • 5 out of 6 found this review helpful.
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Anna Karenina (2012) Movie Reviews + Ratings

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bealerrr I wish Anna Karenina was about Levin. His tortured soul is much simpler, and more pragmatic. None of this flamboyant suicide.

13 hours ago.

eat_mebabyy There was a time when I was in love. But love never loved me back. #theantithesis #annakarenina

14 hours ago.

seedney_ He was really good in Anna Karenina tho

15 hours ago.

Candraa17 I was able to persevere through unabridged Anna Karenina, I think I can handle anything. I HATE when a book is abridged. #stoprightnow

16 hours ago.

ambershahid Thinking to watch Anna Karenina again! What a classic it is! Loved the mannerism in the movie! The way they wud sit, walk or talk is amazing

1 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!