Critic Reviews

Lolita (1962) Rank 5 Reviews

Expert Review Summary

Movie critics combined give Lolita (1962) a score of 2.9064 out of 4

based on (22) reviews

Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating

Excellent

(3)

Very Good

(16)

Good

(3)

Fair

(0)

Poor

(0)

Reviews by Score:

IMDB.com

Although Nabokov himself wrote the screenplay and although he praised the film in later interviews, many fans of the novel accuse Kubrick of unfaithfulness to the film's literary source. Many of those people forget that the best novels are often very ...read the complete Lolita movie review at IMDB.com

IMDB.com

But as unfaithful as it is the novel, "Lolita" is surprisingly remarkable. It has a kind of weird comic feel to it, with small chuckles coming out of scenes that are funny because of character, not situation. And it has a kind of Sophoclean depth to it, ...read the complete Lolita movie review at IMDB.com

filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)

When a character's name enters the language as a general descriptor of a similar person, you know you're dealing with a classic. Lolita is exactly that film -- and the story of one man's obsession with his stepdaughter is so well-known it scarcely ...read the complete Lolita movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)

filmcritic.com kisses Lolita

When a character's name enters the language as a general descriptor of a similar person, you know you're dealing with a classic. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at filmcritic.com kisses Lolita

Thoughts on Stuff

The film is about a middle aged guy who falls in love with the teenage daughter of his landlady, and the story goes on to explore the effect that relationship has on him. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at Thoughts on Stuff

IMDB.com

LOLITA is based on the best selling novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The book was labeled pornography by many at the time, and most movie studios did not care to have anything to do with it. Kubrick decided to make it into a movie, but he wanted the seal so ...read the complete Lolita movie review at IMDB.com

DVD Times (Steve Wilkinson)

Kubrick showed his newly discovered commercial savvy by seizing upon a project that had built in controversy, guaranteeing column inches and box office dollars. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at DVD Times (Steve Wilkinson)

digitallyOBSESSED! DVD Reviews

The tagline for Lolita reads, "How did they ever make a movie out of Lolita?" I think the better question is why did they make Lolita... ...read the complete Lolita movie review at digitallyOBSESSED! DVD Reviews

JackassCritics.com

The quote above is the first paragraph from one of the great English language novel's Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. English was Nabokov's third language but he wields better than most can use their first. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at JackassCritics.com

DVD Times (Raphael Pour-Hashemi)

Performances are dazzling throughout the film. James Mason is calm, calculated and crammed with facial expressions as Humbert, and his upper-classed, middle-aged exterior makes proceedings all the funnier when his demise is in full swing. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at DVD Times (Raphael Pour-Hashemi)

Michael D's Region 4 DVD Info Page (Tony Rogers)

Stanley Kubrick never made a straightforward movie. His most recent movie, Eyes Wide Shut, raised some controversy with some of the sexual images displayed, and the censorship of them in the US. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at Michael D's Region 4 DVD Info Page (Tony Rogers)

DVDTown (John J. Puccio)

Controversy always swirled around "Lolita." After Nabokov wrote the novel, it was banned in most countries. It was not published in the United States until 1958. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at DVDTown (John J. Puccio)

eFilmCritic Reviews

While Lolita is away at summer camp, Charlotte professes her love for Humbert. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at eFilmCritic Reviews

DVD MovieGuide

And that's where my acquaintance with "that book by Nabokov" remained since 1980. Oh, that's not really true; I knew absolutely nothing of the story back then and had to consult lyric sheets just to decipher "Nabokov. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at DVD MovieGuide

DVD Net (Anthony Horan)

Back at the start of the 1960s, Stanley Kubrick was best known as the guy that took charge of the mammoth 1960 movie production of Spartacus and guided it to completion; suddenly, Kubrick a director was attracting a great deal of studio attention, as word ...read the complete Lolita movie review at DVD Net (Anthony Horan)

CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)

The acting also tends to the melodramatic, with John Garfield trying much too hard for big effects in his role as a rebellious crew member, Ida Lupino not faring much better as his love interest, and Barry Fitzgerald grating on the nerves as a motor-mouth ...read the complete Lolita movie review at CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)

DVD MovieGuide

James Mason plays devious, deluded Humbert: wedded to needy Charlotte; rivaled by the ubiquitous Clare Quilty and enraptured to his gelatinous core by the blithe teen with that "lovely, lyrical, lilting name" - Lolita. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at DVD MovieGuide

BigSofa

That I'd been directly immersed into the chaos of someone's revealed dream is how I felt the first time I watched Humbert Humbert (James Mason) enter the baroque/rococo, bric-a-brac, black-and-white broken into pieces set through which he stumbles in dumb ...read the complete Lolita movie review at BigSofa

The Greatest Films - comprehensive analysis of classic US film

The black humor and dramatic story of juvenile temptation and perverse, late-flowering lust was centered on a pubescent nymphet and a mature literature professor in an aura of incest. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at The Greatest Films - comprehensive analysis of classic US film

Britmovie

Lecturer Humbert Humbert moves to America to write and get a teaching job. He rents a room from widower Charlotte Haze and falls for her 15-year-old nymphet daughter Lolita. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at Britmovie

Reel.com DVD review (Rick Schultz)

A middle-aged, stolid professor marries a sex-starved widow but lusts after her sexually precocious teenage daughter. An odd suitor also pursues the girl. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at Reel.com DVD review (Rick Schultz)

Albuquerque Alibi (Devin D. O'Leary)

Kubrick's teen temptress is slightly less predatory than Nabokov's "nymphet. ...read the complete Lolita movie review at Albuquerque Alibi (Devin D. O'Leary)

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