The Reckoning (2003/I)

Director:

Paul McGuigan

Writers:

Barry Unsworth (novel)
Mark Mills (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 February 2004 (Hungary)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The truth shall come to light

Plot:

A priest on the lam takes up with a traveling band of actors, who then discover a murder has occurred and try to solve it by recreating the crime in a play.

Plot Keywords:

Medieval | Murder | Priest | 14th Century | Actor

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Paul Bettany	...	Nicholas
Marián Aguilera	...	Nicholas' Lover
Trevor Steedman	...	Jealous Husband
Simon McBurney	...	Stephen
Tom Hardy	...	Straw
Brian Cox	...	Tobias
Willem Dafoe	...	Martin
Gina McKee	...	Sarah
Stuart Wells	...	Springer (as George Wells)
Vincent Cassel	...	Lord De Guise
Elvira Mínguez	...	Martha
Richard Durden	...	Town Justice
Ewen Bremner	...	Simon Damian
Mark Benton	...	Sheriff
Hamish McColl	...	Innkeeper

Also Known As:

Misterio de Wells, El (Spain)
Morality Play

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and violent images.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

UK | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Canada:14A

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Kanzaman S.A.

Trivia:

.

Goofs:

Writing with the left hand was considered a sin until the last century, and would never have been taught to a monk.

Quotes:

Lord De Guise: Do you really believe that your God has the power to protect you?
Nicholas: No. Nor the inclination.
Lord De Guise: Ah. Then what kind of God is that?
Nicholas: The kind who allows innocent children to be murdered.

well acted medieval mystery, losing interest towards the end

Director Paul McGuigan gathers a team of excellent actors in this medieval mystery drama. This is not an easy genre, although there are excellent books to start from and at least one film to remember, 'The Name of the Rose' that was a great success a couple of decades ago. In 'Reckoning' the staging of the action is very good, the characters are strong and credible, and the atmosphere of the time - 14th century England - makes it to the screen. The story of an ex-priest joining a group of actors who get involved in a crime and wrong justice story in a village they perform is quite interesting, at least at the beginning. Paul Bettamy and William Defoe give good performances, and the rest of the team is not far behind. The problem is with the story - it starts well leading to a theater in movie scene which is the key of the whole movie. The mistake in the script is that this scene comes too early, and the rest of the story is too easy to predict and not interesting enough. I lost interest in the second half, and it looked like the director also ran out of ideas, most of the best visuals are in the first half, the second just repeats what we saw in the first and in many other films. Overall a movie above average, 7 out of 10 on my personal scale.