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Johnny Depp, John Malkovich, Samantha Morton, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander ... see more see more... , Johnny Vegas , Kelly Reilly , Jack Davenport , Richard Coyle , Francesca Annis , Rupert Friend , Clare Higgins , Tom Burke

A man who lives for pleasure finds his hedonism betrays him in time in this film adaptation of the play by Stephen Jeffreys. The second Earl of Rochester, John Wilmot (Johnny Depp), was a notorious fi... read more read more...gure in 17th century Europe; well-respected as a poet and author, Wilmot also earned no small degree of gossip for his freewheeling sex life and appetite for decadence. Wilmot was close friends with Charles II (John Malkovich), the powerful and Machiavellian ruler of England, and enjoyed a passionate romance with Elizabeth Barry (Samantha Morton), an actress of note. But Wilmot's seemingly charmed life took a turn for the worse when he wrote a satirical play lampooning his friend Charles II; the monarch failed to see the humor, and exiled the author from Britain. Wilmot found little solace in his relationship with Barry, especially after he contracted syphilis and began drinking heavily as the disease tore away at his body and his mind. The Libertine was produced in part by John Malkovich, who played the role of John Wilmot in a production of Stephen Jeffreys' original play. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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56% liked it

69,695 ratings

Critics

33% liked it

120 critics

R, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: Laurence Dunmore

Release Date: March 10, 2006

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DVD Release Date: July 4, 2006

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Stats: 4,112 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (4,112)

  • bbcfloridabound
    February 1, 2012
    bbcfloridabound
    I waited a year for this movie from Netflix, what a dissapointment. The worst Johnny Depp movie I have ever seen, Filty from start to finish. Not worth the wait or the effort. 1/2 star
  • paulsandberg
    June 6, 2010
    paulsandberg
    A squallid period piece mired in the mud of historical accuracy and a meandering direction.

    Wasting a very good performance from J Depp, Samantha Morton and John Malkovich, the film treds unevenly over the cobblestones of its debauchery - too graphic - yet not shocking, as the... read more "love" scenes often become too long, too artsy, and too pointless.

    The hedonistic aspect of the film is intriguing, and somewhere within there is a message pondering acts for self versus the selfless act. - I believe that the script would have been better if it had adhered more towards these ponderings instead of concerning itself with minor charactors, historical detours and dramatic non-sequitors.

    Samantha Morton's charactor comes across as beguiling, and yet we remain unsure of her motivations, as so much appears to get glossed over by a simple "he is my lover" - but what does that mean? What is the context and why the later appearance of nonchalance? Was there something implied in the king's request that she be a spy against Depp that would lead her to detach herself from him? So much could have been mined here.

    The introduction and conclusion are a nice touch, and the speach before the house of lords a wonderful tour de force by Depp (and almost worth viewing the rest of the film for), but even when the film does it right, ie. said scene in the house of lords, it squanders the dramatic credit by almost throwing away the subsequent meeting between Depp and Malkovich, tossing aside the true theme of the film just as easily as Depp's depraved charactor throws away the respect of his king and the adoration of his followers.
  • MissMorganLeee
    April 30, 2010
    MissMorganLeee
    Throughout this movie I kept saying to myself. "underneath the vulgarity there is a good movie with good story." I am still not sure if I was right or not! I really just dont know. Johnny Depps opening Monalogue was spectacular. Very Very well done. And of course, its Johnny Depp... read more so you know the entire performance with be amazing and He did not fail. Now I know that his movie was pretty much HATED by the critics but I was very surprised that Johnny was not nominated for an oscar! He was completely immersted in his character wich, I guess he is in all of his movies, and I really beleive that the Academy should honor him more often then they do.
  • aliceinpunderland
    April 6, 2010
    aliceinpunderland
    This movie was a bit overhyped for me, but it is equal parts tragedy and badassery. "Do you like me now? Do you like me now? Do you like me...now?"

    The female performances are all fierce and fiery. Samantha Morton plays a passionate if talentless ingenue, who under Wilmot'... read mores tutelage, gives perhaps the best Ophelia I've seen to date (not that I've seen many), even though it's only snippets, and it might be anachronistic as well. Rosamund Pike is icy and sensuous in the carriage scene and icy and tormented in the big confrontation scene.

    Some excellent zingers and profoundly romantic moments. "May I always be in your heart, sometimes in your thoughts, but never in your debt." Ooo chills!
  • ythelastman89
    April 3, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Johnny Depp did a tremendous job along with John Malkovich, but it wasn't a particularly strong film. The story was a bit too simplistic and tended to drag. I enjoyed the style of it, but it had very little originality to it.
  • webalina
    January 19, 2010
    webalina
    I saw this a while back and wasn't impressed. But because Johnny Depp is both gorgeous and talented, I thought I'd give it another chance. I'm glad I did. The story of writer/pervert John Wilmoth, Duke of Rochester, got better the second time around. I paid more attention to the ... read moreperformances and liked what I saw. Depp is of course almost always great, but Samantha Morton as Wilmoth's theatre protege and lover was wonderful. She had to play a bad actress who is turned into a great actress and she did a whale of a job. John Malkovich, who I like but seems kind of mannered most of the time, does a good job and is almost unrecognizable as the king. The scenes of Wilmoth's progressive syphillis that eventually kills him are horrific at times, and makes you want to go out and buy a whole case of condoms just in case. The whole film has a smoky sepia quality because it was supposedly filmed in light sources from the time period only -- sunlight streaming through windows and candlelight. Call this the love child of Dangerous Liaisons and Quills and you'd be close to the feel of this film. I have the feeling this film is going to grow on me.
  • SirPant
    January 15, 2010
    SirPant
    Some of the scenes are visually stunning, most though are spoilt by an ill conceived 'Candle-light' filter that becomes quite irritating after a while. The script is also wickedly deviant but is often spoilt by terrible overacting, mainly by the miscast supporting actors. It is s... read moreelf-indulgent and badly structured, a real missed opportunity considering the subject matter, the 'Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery' scene could have been longer and a little more sleazy, the whole film could have been a little longer and a little more sleazy! John Malkovich's fake nose was unforgivable but at least he got the accent right this time, and to be fair, Depp's make-up in the last few scenes was impressive. An unsuccessful film to say the least but you know what, I really enjoyed it! Depp was fantastic, and so was Morton (apart from that bit where she over-acted a bit), the script was solid too and it was very funny. Just could/should have been so much better!
  • garyX
    January 13, 2010
    garyX
    The Libertine tells the story of the Earl Of Rochester, hedonist and all round cad who scandalized the court of King Charles II. Expecting a saucy period romp bolstered by Johnny Depp's irresistably wicked charm, what I actually got was a bunch of obnoxious dandys sneering at the... read more world in self-consciously dense cod Olde Worlde speak. I've always been suspicious of scripts that involve writers writing about writing as it invariably spirals down into self absorbed pretentiousness; and it seems watching actors act about acting has pretty much the same results. The only attempt to wrest the painfully self-indulgent script from the stage is to wave the camera around in the pseudo documentary style I hate so much and constantly use the kind of sepia-tinted retro filter that the directors of over-expensive bank adverts are so fond of. The peformances are professional but stodgy and passionless and it contains the kind of constant stream of expletives and nudity that made me think the cast might as well as just wandered up and down a stage holding placards with "ART" written on them. Malkovich is solid despite the ludicrous prosthetic nose he is forced to wear and Rosamund Pike manages to inject at least a small modicum of humanity into her underwritten part but the script has intelligence but no insight, wit but never amuses and romance but never engages. In the end it's a charmless vanity project that will only ever attract an audience because of the presence of Mr. Depp. Try Dangerous Liaisons or Quills instead.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 17, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    He didn't resist temptation. He pursued it.
  • cosmo313
    August 12, 2009
    cosmo313
    Despite having a pace that's a little too slow and the presence of a few boring patches throughout, this is a fairly decent film. The performances, music, and cinematography are the best parts. B-.

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Critic Reviews

Peter Howell
March 10, 2006
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

What emerges from the bilious murk of first-time director Laurence Dunmore's film is a sad picture of an intelligent and talented writer who opted for self-indulgence and gratuitous insult over anythi... Full Review

Neva Chonin
March 10, 2006
Neva Chonin, San Francisco Chronicle

The point seems to be that too much of a good thing leads to a vast sense of nothingness and bleak cinematography. Alas, it also results in transforming a film about a sensualist into a remarkably sex... Full Review

Roger Moore
March 10, 2006
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

A bawdy Restoration romp that doesn't. Romp. Full Review

Bruce Westbrook
March 10, 2006
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

Depp's depraved character does have twisted poignancy. Full Review

Rick Groen
March 10, 2006
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

A movie that serves up what its debauched subject would never have countenanced -- sanitized smut with a moral attached. Full Review

Tom Long
March 10, 2006
Tom Long, Detroit News

Dunmore slogs through the story with an overripe sense of gravity that, when mixed with the film's carefully botched look, makes for one murky moviegoing experience. Full Review

Terry Lawson
March 10, 2006
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Without context and reason to care, I never understood why I was lurking about here the first place. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
March 10, 2006
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

Rochester may have been a cultural visionary, but the movie reduces this notion to a parable of bad-boy celebrity hitched to an uninteresting love story. Full Review

Michael Wilmington
March 10, 2006
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

It's a bit too muddy, dismal-looking and smoky to beguile us, too fixated on filth and too dreary-looking to really shock us. Full Review

Ty Burr
March 10, 2006
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Stinkers this rapturously self-assured don't come along often, and when they do, they deserve to be honored with the proper giggling disbelief. Full Review

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The Libertine Trivia

  • What movie is this quote from? "Allow me to be frank at the commencement. You will not like me. The gentlemen will be envious and the ladies will be repelled. You will not like me now and you will like me a good deal less as we go on."  Answer »
  • Which two movies do Tom Hollander and Johnny Depp both star in?  Answer »
  • Name the actor ~ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (PG-13, 2006) The Libertine (R, 2006) Deep Sea 3D (G, 2006) Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (PG, 2005)  Answer »
  • apart from pirates of the caribbean 1 & 2, what other film has jack davenport starred opposite johnny depp?  Answer »
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