Critic Reviews
Goya's Ghosts (2007) Rank 5 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (64) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
tonymedley.com (Tony Medley)
...an involving soap opera with a terrific performance by Natalie Portman. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at tonymedley.com (Tony Medley)
Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)
Despite some unintentional laughs and the difficulties some actors have with the English language, 'Goya's Ghosts' is worth seeing for the color, the costumes, and an education into the perils of irrationality. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)
Orlando Weekly (John Thomason)
Goya’s Ghosts is less about the eponymous painter than it is a gripping two-part story of politics and faith during and after the Spanish Inquisition. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Orlando Weekly (John Thomason)
IGN Movies (Todd Gilchrist)
But in the end Goya's Ghosts is a far riskier and more provocative film than others released this summer, less because it targets relevant issues than the fact it refuses to take a stance on them on one side or the other. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at IGN Movies (Todd Gilchrist)
Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)
Goya's Ghosts is a smart, darkly funny and deeply pessimistic film. It looks good and features wonderful performances. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
An extraordinarily beautiful film that plays almost like an excuse to generate its images. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Detroit Free Press (John Monaghan)
While there are probably computer-generated backgrounds and armies on screen, the movie still has the feel of an old-fashioned epic. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Detroit Free Press (John Monaghan)
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
Reminds us of the wisdom behind the title of Goya's most famous etching: 'The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.' ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
Not a perfect film, but its implications have profound resonance. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Rich in color and period detail, the film attempts an epic sprawl it never quite achieves, but the movie is always enjoyable and interesting. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
EricDSnider.com (Eric D. Snider)
Forman ought to have put his film to The Question a little longer before letting it loose on the world. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at EricDSnider.com (Eric D. Snider)
Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
Goya gets lost as the filmmakers turn Spanish history into a chronicle of easy contemporary targets. They don't just hit the social-political bull's-eye -- they obliterate it with a cannon and inadvertently scorch the dramatic landscape all around it. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Paula Nechak)
Instead of inflaming passion and inspiration, the film snuffs it out with the sin of being dull. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Paula Nechak)
Empire (Kim Newman)
The moral and physical chaos of Spain under a comically corrupt monarchy, the less amusing Inquisition, Napoleon’s idiot brother and the Duke of Wellington obviously reminds the Czech Milos Forman of his homeland’s 20th century sufferings, and this is ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Empire (Kim Newman)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
The film spans almost 20 years of Spanish history, beginning in 1792 during the later years of the Spanish Inquisition, through the invasion of Spain by Napoleon's army to the restoration of the Spanish monarchy by Wellington. The production design is ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Oregonian (Marc Mohan)
More than two decades ago, Forman gave us Amadeus , a portrait of the historical artist that both captured a time and made its people seem real and recognizable. On that second point, the new film falls far short. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Oregonian (Marc Mohan)
Chicago Tribune (Matt Pais)
Director/co-writer Milos Forman explores the brutality and suspicion of 18th century Spain through the work of painter Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) and two of his subjects: Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem), a dishonorable member of the Inquisition, ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Chicago Tribune (Matt Pais)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Goya's Ghosts starts its first half in Spain in the year 1792, amid the tension of the French Revolution, where Francisco Goya (Skarsgard, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest), one of the country's most famous of painters, has drawn the suspicious ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Sun Online (Johnny Vaughan)
Classy cinematography and powerful performances by all. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Sun Online (Johnny Vaughan)
New York Times (Matt Zoller Seitz)
Goya’s Ghosts, the new feature from the director Milos Forman, is an unwieldy mix of political satire and lavish period soap opera. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at New York Times (Matt Zoller Seitz)
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Goya's Ghosts uses the lives of artists and historical figures to show us the best and the worst of our human impulses. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Arizona Republic (Richard Nilsen)
It's a richly seen and felt movie, but not one with a feel-good message. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Arizona Republic (Richard Nilsen)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
The film's seriousness of intent is unimpeachable but the execution borders on farce. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
Portman is saddled with the worst role. Ines spends much of her screen time acting blighted and deranged, a condition not improved by Portman's penchant for stage theatrics. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
Onion AV Club (Tasha Robinson)
If Forman is trying to communicate that art isn't an effective way to change American society, he's proved his point neatly with this muddled, wandering dud. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Onion AV Club (Tasha Robinson)
Newsday (Gene Seymour)
The problem with Goya's Ghosts lies in its conception of Goya himself, who is depicted as being both a blithe suck-up and embittered moralist. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Newsday (Gene Seymour)
New York Daily News (Elizabeth Weitzman)
Fascinating ideas do hover, like mournful specters, around the edges of this meticulously detailed movie. But then they disappear, leaving us vaguely sad and unsettled, with nothing solid to grasp. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at New York Daily News (Elizabeth Weitzman)
Houston Chronicle (Bruce Westbrook)
Bucket Reviews (Danny Baldwin)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Michael Machosky)
Hollywood.com (--)
Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
Ultimately Goya's Ghosts left me wanting to watch Amadeus again, for the pleasure of a story well told. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
There's an unfortunate tendency in this movie for the forces of history to overtake scenes. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
[Forman] merely gives it a high polish, with lots of beautiful costumes, makeup and set designs, hoping that the Academy will remember him once more. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
The film's greatest moments of artistry are in the credits, which feature a breathtaking gallery of the painter's work. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
What Forman doesn't give us is drama of sure coherence or credibility, but the trappings entrance. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (Josh Larsen)
...only captivates when Forman and his production designers echo some of the painter's more famous tableaus. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (Josh Larsen)
Miami Herald (Marta Barber)
Captures the essence of the period -- an intriguing, backward era in Spain -- but without the emotional impact that such a film requires. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Miami Herald (Marta Barber)
Reel.com (Pam Grady)
The biggest problem with the movie isn't the actors or even the half-baked script; it is that it never successfully draws one into its world. Watching Goya's Ghosts , one begins to daydream about Michael Palin. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Reel.com (Pam Grady)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
The movie is uneven in the extreme, to the extent that it feels like two imperfectly wed pictures. The first, while not extraordinary, at least contains some interesting ideas. The second borders on embarrassing. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Let’s say that in this twenty-first century world, you want to make a film that will throw a harsh light on religious fanaticism and say something about the conflict between it—and the brutality it engenders—and secular rationalism. What historical ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Las Vegas Weekly (Josh Bell)
A disjointed oddity. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Las Vegas Weekly (Josh Bell)
Guardian [UK] (Peter Bradshaw)
The idea and presence of Goya himself is somehow off-centre and off-balance throughout this directionless movie. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Guardian [UK] (Peter Bradshaw)
BBC (Laura Bushell)
Despite noteworthy attention to period detail in production and costume design, these are not enough to carry the film's confused plot. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at BBC (Laura Bushell)
Independent (--)
Any film that sets its vision of Spain in the era of Inquisition and Napoleon against Goya's needs to have something pretty special to offer; this one doesn't. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Independent (--)
Channel 4 Film (--)
Sumptuously filmed, but so lacking in a central narrative focal point that for all its pretences, Goya's Ghosts succeeds in saying nothing at all. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Channel 4 Film (--)
thelondonpaper (Neil Smith)
It’s as dull as the proverbial ditchwater. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at thelondonpaper (Neil Smith)
Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
he acting is rather good, but only Ms. Portman and Mr. Quaid really shine. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
This is London (Derek Malcolm)
The whole thing creaks along like an anaemic snail. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at This is London (Derek Malcolm)
Times [UK] (Wendy Ide)
It’s never entirely clear who or what the film is about. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Times [UK] (Wendy Ide)
Orlando Sentinel (Roger Moore)
Think of it as an Amadeus that doesn't work. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Orlando Sentinel (Roger Moore)
Movies for the Masses (Joseph Proimakis)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
The cast is rather too eclectic for its own good. These are superior actors, but thrown together like this they all stick out like sore thumbs. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
Slant Magazine (Nick Schager)
milos Foreman goes astray with Goya's Ghosts, a beautiful disaster of a period picture that weaves its preposterous story around Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) during the Spanish Inquisition and Napoleon's invasion of Spain. In 1792 Madrid, Brother ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Slant Magazine (Nick Schager)
Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
efilmcritic.com (Peter Sobczynski)
On paper, “Goya’s Ghost” looks like the perfect antidote to the otherwise mindless multiplex offerings of Summer 2007. After all, it has a trio of splendid actors, a period storyline that offers up a heady brew of sex, politics and religious persecution ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at efilmcritic.com (Peter Sobczynski)
Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
An overstuffed turkey that's entertaining for all the wrong reasons. It may in fact be the comedy of the summer, a melodramatic folly whose ambitions consistently curdle into camp. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
An across-the-board disaster from one of my favorite directors, Milos Forman. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
The most disappointing film Milos Forman has made in his rich career, this misguided saga fails to illuminate the famous Spanish painter or the infamous Inquisition; among other flaws, it features the first bad performance from the gifted Natalie Portman ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
Goya's Ghosts is such a botch, it left me yearning for a little digital bombast. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Feels like an unsatisfying outline for a bigger, better fil ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
filmcritic.com (Chris Cabin)
It's a rare misfire for Forman, and it's a doozy of one. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at filmcritic.com (Chris Cabin)
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
Goya's Ghosts is Milos Forman's first film since 1999, but you sincerely wish it wasn't. A logy, rambling period piece, it feels about as far away from the spirit of Amadeus as it's possible to get with wigs and britches. ...read the complete Goya's Ghosts movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
RopeofSilicon (Brad Brevet)
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