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THE RITE (2011)Movie Reviews
Horror thriller about a seminary student who travels to Italy to study at the Vatican's Exorcism School. Cast:Anthony Hopkins, Ciarán HindsDirector:Mikael HåfströmRelease Date:January 28, 2011DVD Release:May 17, 2011From:New LineRating:PG-13Length:1 hr. 51 min.
The Rite (2011) played to weak reviews. • Kevin Johnson wrote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "...never achieves full scariness, despite some effective scenes with possessed girl Rosaria (Marta Gastini)." • And Steven Rea wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "...has a certain classy gravity in its early stages.... as Hopkins goes wild-eyed and FX-ed with popping veins, 'The Rite' gives up on asking us to take it seriously." More Reviews Below...
The Rite (2011) Positive Reviews (41 Reviews, reviews below)
Rennie Dyball, People: MODERATE(cg) "Those who haven't seen 'The Exorcist' might be genuinely spooked, but for more seasoned viewers, the fear won't follow you home.... it's just another scary movie."(See all of Rennie Dyball's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 110 words, 01/27/11
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Anthony Hopkins classes up 'The Rite'... But even his otherworldly powers can only make this overly familiar demonic possession thriller engaging for so long."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 644 words, 01/27/11
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: POOR(cg) "...we were expecting something we hadn't seen a dozen times in the recent cycle of exorcist thrillers.... commits the supreme sin of making the devil dull."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 225 words, 01/28/11
Scott Bowles, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "...the movie is so slowed by talk, unnecessary characters and some odd symbolism that the battle for souls seems to be lacking a little heart."(See all of Scott Bowles's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 533 words, 01/28/11
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: VERY GOOD(cg) "...its cinematography is eerie and evocative, and the actors enrich it. It has given some thought to exorcism. Grant its assumptions, and it has something to say."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 758 words, 01/27/11
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: POOR "...dull, pretentiously verbose... life is very, very serious, and evil is too prevalent for there to be room for laughter, pleasure, enjoyment or humor of any kind."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 616 words, 01/28/11
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: POOR(cg) "...terminally silly, even more so for being 'inspired by actual events'.... While there's no pea soup or spinning heads, a lot comes close..."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 477 words, 01/28/11
Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Offers moderately scary Roman Catholic 'gotcha!'s... 'The Exorcist' hangs heavy over each new contributor to the mythology."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 498 words, 01/28/11
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...its cinematography is eerie and evocative, and the actors enrich it. It has given some thought to exorcism. Grant its assumptions, and it has something to say."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 758 words, 01/27/11
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...audience-goosing shocks, illuminate no ideas on the hereafter, divine causality, or any detail of sinister ambiguity... it is A Sign.... of bad writing."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 665 words, 01/26/11
Josep Parera, La Opinion: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Esa falta de garra en las escenas más impactantes deja en manos de los actores y del director la teórica eficacia del guión."(See all of Josep Parera's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 389 words, 01/28/11
Glenn Sumi, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...takes a good hour to get going, and the special effects aren't that special... Hopkins is much more fun as a toad-faced baddie than he is as a pious and saintly priest."(See all of Glenn Sumi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 219 words, 01/28/11
KEY CITIES (11 Reviews)
Sean O'Connell, Washington Post: WEAK(cg) "...a run-of-the-mill chiller that spends an inordinate amount of time flirting with unconventional scare tactics... the latest in a long line of 'The Exorcist' clones."(See all of Sean O'Connell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 706 words, 01/28/11
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...has a certain classy gravity in its early stages.... as Hopkins goes wild-eyed and FX-ed with popping veins, 'The Rite' gives up on asking us to take it seriously."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 419 words, 01/28/11
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: MODERATE(cg) "Irish actor Michael O'Donoghue is so stunningly uncharismatic that he kills whatever possibilities this picture from the director of the silly-scary-smart '1408' had."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 580 words, 01/28/11
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...director Mikael Hafstrom creates a nice, creepy vibe, especially for the first part of the movie, which has a menacing atmosphere. Too bad he doesn't sustain it..."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 520 words, 01/28/11
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: WEAK(cg) "...while the slow, patient plod of its story line is interesting at first, the unvarying pace turns funereal and ultimately vexing."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 612 words, 01/28/11
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: MODERATE(cg) "...a standard religious-horror pic, the Father vs. the fiends, with yet another man's grave crisis of faith ironically cured by the Devil himself."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 452 words, 01/28/11
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "...treats the entire thing matter-of-factly, patiently, with sober-minded purpose: both faith and skepticism get some respect, a shocker in the horror oeuvre these days."(See all of Amy Biancolli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 399 words, 01/28/11
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: MODERATE(cg) "Hopkins looks as if he's having a good time overwhelmed by histrionic, dark forces.... But the film's lumpy screenplay undercuts real dramatic tension..."(See all of Tom Keogh's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 352 words, 01/28/11
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...audience-goosing shocks, illuminate no ideas on the hereafter, divine causality, or any detail of sinister ambiguity... it is A Sign.... of bad writing."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 665 words, 01/26/11
Peg Aloi, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE(cg) "Those seeking gore will be disappointed; those interested in how a crisis of faith responds to a brush with the Devil will be intrigued.... Still, Hopkins is terrific..."(See all of Peg Aloi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 159 words, 01/27/11
Keith Phipps, AV Club: FAIR(cg) "Kudos to 'The Rite' for thinking outside the usual goat/pentagram/black-candles box for its satanic imagery, but is a mule really the best it could manage?"(See all of Keith Phipps's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 423 words, 01/27/11
Simon Abrams, Slant: POOR(cg) "Simply invoking the devil we know just isn't enough anymore, and I don't think director Mikael Håfström and screenwriter Michael Petroni get that."(See all of Simon Abrams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 514 words, 01/27/11
Glenn Sumi, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...takes a good hour to get going, and the special effects aren't that special... Hopkins is much more fun as a toad-faced baddie than he is as a pious and saintly priest."(See all of Glenn Sumi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 219 words, 01/28/11
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: POOR "Linda Blair's rotations and regurgitations were a lot more fun than this movie's pseudo-theological lucubrations on the subject of skepticism, faith and the battle against evil."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 481 words, 01/28/11
Stephen Holden, New York Times: POOR "...dull, pretentiously verbose... life is very, very serious, and evil is too prevalent for there to be room for laughter, pleasure, enjoyment or humor of any kind."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 616 words, 01/28/11
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: FAIR "...has some horror-movie scares and ominous, David Lynch-style dream sequences.... If it's a nonsensical patchwork quilt, it's mostly a watchable one..."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 716 words, 01/27/11
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Joe Leydon, Daily Variety: MODERATE "...a largely low-key, intelligent effort... comes perilously close to laugh-out-loud silliness when it renders an evil spirit as a vaguely sinister donkey..."(See all of Joe Leydon's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 794 words, 01/25/11
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...becomes more ludicrous as it goes along, with more than a few lines of dialogue from Michael Petroni's over-the-top screenplay eliciting unintended titters."(See all of Frank Scheck's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 551 words, 01/25/11
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE(cg) "...too many expository sequences and not enough dramatization of conflict or personality... under Mikael Håfström's direction it's simply dull."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 586 words, 01/27/11
Stephen Holden, New York Times: POOR "...dull, pretentiously verbose... life is very, very serious, and evil is too prevalent for there to be room for laughter, pleasure, enjoyment or humor of any kind."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 616 words, 01/28/11
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: POOR "Linda Blair's rotations and regurgitations were a lot more fun than this movie's pseudo-theological lucubrations on the subject of skepticism, faith and the battle against evil."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 481 words, 01/28/11
17.2 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Rite (2011)'s reviews are separated by an average 17.2 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 Rite (2011) (41 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Rite (2011)'s reviews cover 89.3% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 20,280 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 495 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 11.1 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Rite (2011)'s reviews on average broke 11.1 hours 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 Rite (2011)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Rite (2011) (41 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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