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THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLESMovie Reviews
Documentary about a billionaire couple building a 90,000 square foot home who are forced to scale back their lifestyle due to the economic crisis. Cast:David Siegel, Jackie SiegelDirector:Lauren GreenfieldRelease Date:July 20, 2012DVD Release:November 13, 2012From:MagnoliaRating:PGLength:1 hr. 40 min.
NOVEMBER 13, 2012
The Queen of Versailles, Very Good Reviews (Doc) Key Cities
The Queen of Versailles played in key cities to very good reviews. • Glenn Sumi wrote in Toronto Now, "...begins as a look at conspicuous consumption, then evolves into something that plays with our sympathies.... Laura Greenfield's got a great eye for the telling detail." • And Colin Covert wrote in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "...superb... beautifully constructed and frequently uproarious." More Reviews Below...
The Queen of Versailles Positive Reviews (44 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: VERY GOOD(cg) "It's hard not to giggle at mega-rich Jackie and David Siegel, who hoard pets, kids and tacky furniture while building the largest private home in the U.S."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 52 words, 08/02/12
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: OUTSTANDING(cg) "The Siegels' lifestyle is still outrageous, but the sensation of panic they experience and the strain it puts on their marriage are relatable..."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 575 words, 07/19/12
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...uses the Siegels as incarnations of a consumer culture gone psychotic. They're greedy, they're naive, they're audacious, they're ridiculous. And they're also us."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 523 words, 07/13/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Some of Jackie's dialogue is so good it would distinguish a sitcom... You can't hate these people, and it's clear that Lauren Greenfield didn't..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 628 words, 08/03/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "A gaudy guilty pleasure that is also a piece of trenchant social criticism... captures the tone of the times with a clear, surprisingly compassionate eye."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 966 words, 07/20/12
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: EXCELLENT(cg) "Greenfield brings an unexpected empathy to this portrait, which is ultimately less about the Siegels than the culture that created them."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 347 words, 07/20/12
Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...excellent... What might have been mere reality-TV fodder about hissable symbols of overconsumption turns out to be a three-dimensional study of a marriage."(See all of Sheri Linden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 356 words, 07/20/12
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...frighteningly hilarious.... the Siegels make the Kardashians and Donald Trump look like tasteful pikers when it comes to egregiously conspicuous consumption..."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 581 words, 07/20/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...you wonder if decades from now, Greenfield's documentary will be considered a key artifact of an era of heinous excess bleeding into an era of heinous uncertainty."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 505 words, 08/03/12
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a delicious tale of poetic justice in which palaces crumble and the maws of gluttony run dry. By extension, however, it's a tale about all of us."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 295 words, 08/03/12
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: VERY GOOD "...transcends malice. For Lauren Greenfield, the Siegels are a brilliant metaphor for everything farkakte about the U.S. economy and the culture that shaped it."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 678 words, 07/09/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Some of Jackie's dialogue is so good it would distinguish a sitcom... You can't hate these people, and it's clear that Lauren Greenfield didn't..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 628 words, 08/03/12
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "Schadenfreude is fair play, I guess, but bad taste and questionable hygiene are not crimes -- or really even all that LOL-worthy."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 888 words, 07/18/12
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a comically horrifying 'riches to rags' portrait of Florida's Jackie Siegel, a former model and forever bimbo on the downslide from excessive living."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 100 words, 04/27/12
Gayle MacDonald, Toronto Globe & Mail: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a severely dysfunctional family that represents American excess at its worst.... a morbid, modern-day immorality tale that is sickeningly funny and difficult to watch."(See all of Gayle MacDonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 164 words, 04/27/12
Glenn Sumi, Toronto Now: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...begins as a look at conspicuous consumption, then evolves into something that plays with our sympathies.... Laura Greenfield's got a great eye for the telling detail."(See all of Glenn Sumi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 140 words, 04/26/12
KEY CITIES (13 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...viewers can't help but feel confounded sympathy for a woman who so willingly bought into the American Dream at its most perversely distorted."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 594 words, 07/27/12
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a sad and shocking study in impossible excess and outsized hubris.... a kind of funhouse mirror, reflecting America's buy-on-credit ethos..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 440 words, 07/27/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...superb... sums up the buoyant, delusional exuberance of pre-crash America.... beautifully constructed and frequently uproarious."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 660 words, 08/03/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: EXCELLENT(cg) "Why is he building the massive home? 'Because I can'.... funny, sad, infuriating, instructive. It's the American Dream inflated to ridiculous extremes, until it bursts."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 636 words, 08/10/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...worthwhile, not because it questions all-American entitlement but because it prompts us to think hard about what, exactly, we believe we're entitled to."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 785 words, 07/27/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: VERY GOOD(cg) "...on the low level of a reality show - sort of 'The Surreal Housewife of Orlando'.... get ready for some snide schadenfreude."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 524 words, 07/20/12
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...startlingly candid... Through a clear lens unclouded by politics or blame, it offers insight into the hazardous American practice of living beyond our means."(See all of Amy Biancolli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 373 words, 07/27/12
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "...you don't know whether to laugh or cry.... offers the undeniable fun of seeing a rich fellow getting his top hat knocked off with a snowball."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 365 words, 08/03/12
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a slyly funny smackdown documentary... artful enough that both the prosecution and the defense could invoke it when the peasants cry 'Off with their heads!' "(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 371 words, 08/17/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: EXCELLENT(cg) "Did they have it coming? You bet. And yet there's still more a sense of sadness for opportunity and life squandered here than a sweet taste of revenge."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 476 words, 08/24/12
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: OUTSTANDING(cg) "By the end, the movie has pulled off a small miracle: You become absorbed in the lives of these people for who they are and not what they own."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 671 words, 08/03/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (10 Reviews)
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "Schadenfreude is fair play, I guess, but bad taste and questionable hygiene are not crimes -- or really even all that LOL-worthy."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 888 words, 07/18/12
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a parable about hubris, illustrated with surreal details, like the Siegels' stretch limo pulled up to a McDonald's takeout window."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 160 words, 07/26/12
Noel Murray, AV Club: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a wondrous spectacle, and it feels fundamentally true.... it's very wise about the ways the rich are different and the same as us. Even marble bathtubs get rings."(See all of Noel Murray's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 394 words, 01/20/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: EXCELLENT(cg) "Everywhere it turns, the camera finds more of everything... the brilliance of 'The Queen of Versailles' is its complication of what seems obvious."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,536 words, 07/20/12
Alison Willmore, Movieline: EXCELLENT(cg) "David Siegel is now suing Laura Greenfield for the way his family and business are portrayed in the film, but 'The Queen of Versailles' isn't a hit piece..."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,027 words, 07/19/12
Glenn Sumi, Toronto Now: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...begins as a look at conspicuous consumption, then evolves into something that plays with our sympathies.... Laura Greenfield's got a great eye for the telling detail."(See all of Glenn Sumi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 140 words, 04/26/12
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: EXCELLENT(cg) "The film's most deeply emotional elements involve the family tensions.... a cautionary tale about living large."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 603 words, 07/25/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a brutal film from many angles... there is nothing gleeful here, no sense that Greenfield is hoping we'll think the Siegels got what they deserved..."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 763 words, 09/10/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "A gaudy guilty pleasure that is also a piece of trenchant social criticism... captures the tone of the times with a clear, surprisingly compassionate eye."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 966 words, 07/20/12
Scott Tobias, NPR: OUTSTANDING "...superb... Greenfield's refusal to pass judgment on the Siegels lends her subjects and their marriage unexpected complexity and depth..."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 616 words, 07/19/12
Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...excellent... What might have been mere reality-TV fodder about hissable symbols of overconsumption turns out to be a three-dimensional study of a marriage."(See all of Sheri Linden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 356 words, 07/20/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: OUTSTANDING "...like a Theodore Dreiser novel for our time, infused with the vivid, vulgar spirit of reality TV... but it also has elements of profound tragedy and allegory."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 800 words, 01/20/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: EXCELLENT "...often hilarious, mostly infuriating chronicle of the rise and fall of one of America's most obscenely wealthy families.... elicits both sympathy and schadenfreude..."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 742 words, 01/19/12
John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...its cloudy perspective and unlikeable (if always watchable) subjects keep it from making any convincing argument about wealth and the ambitions behind it."(See all of John DeFore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 561 words, 01/19/12
Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...excellent... What might have been mere reality-TV fodder about hissable symbols of overconsumption turns out to be a three-dimensional study of a marriage."(See all of Sheri Linden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 356 words, 07/20/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Poignant, timely, both scary and funny... captures the positive and negative aspects of extreme American capitalism, like no other non-fiction work of recent times."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,137 words, 07/16/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "A gaudy guilty pleasure that is also a piece of trenchant social criticism... captures the tone of the times with a clear, surprisingly compassionate eye."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 966 words, 07/20/12
12.3 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Queen of Versailles's reviews are separated by an average 12.3 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Queen of Versailles (44 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Queen of Versailles's reviews cover 79.5% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 24,580 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 559 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Queen of Versailles Coverage, Volume & Length (44 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 5 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Queen of Versailles's reviews on average broke 5 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Queen of Versailles's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Queen of Versailles (44 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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