... hilariously wrongheaded.

Full Review | Feb 1, 2018

Oldman scores a few points as Dimmsdale, but he's ultimately undone by the muttonheaded script. It doesn't help that his character's been turned into a kind of angsty hippie-dippie dude.

Full Review | Jan 5, 2018

Hawthorne's moral seriousness gets lost in a sea of slush.

Full Review | Dec 12, 2017

Full Review | Original Score: C | Sep 7, 2011

Slaughter, sin, and sex in classic-turned-movie misfire.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 16, 2010

"Freely adapted from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne," the credits say cautiously. I'll say.

Full Review | Aug 4, 2009

For all the talent on display, this is a waste of movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 4, 2009

Rage, love, defiance, confusion, fear -- Moore just sticks out her chin and makes her eyes brim with tears. She's the stolidly immovable object at the film's center, and there's no getting around her.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Aug 4, 2009

Despite the cast taking themselves very seriously indeed, The Scarlet Letter is a great comic turn, complete with cod-accents and other period jiggery-pokery.

Full Review | Aug 4, 2009

A very '90s take on a 1660s tale written in 1850, as a picture of early colonial life it's about as convincing as Pocahontas.

Full Review | Mar 26, 2009

Not only does the film bear little resemblance to the source novel, but it's cluttered with ridiculous symbolism.

Full Review | Jun 24, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 0/5 | Aug 31, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jul 7, 2005

Oh, Roland Joff, thy free adaptation of the Hawthorne classic didst produce abudant derisive laughter. Didst thou once direct 'The Killing Fields?'

Full Review | Original Score: 0/5 | May 19, 2005

For anyone who's ever wondered why Hawthorne left out the mute servants, red cockatoos, and rolls in the proverbial hay. As Hawthorne himself would say: "Ignominious!"

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 31, 2004

If you've read the book you won't know the ending. Let's just say that Indians with flaming arrows come to the rescue. They manage to keep a straight face, which is more than anyone in the audience will be able to do.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 30, 2004

A hysterically incompetent camp classic, highly recommended for English department faculty parties.

Full Review | Original Score: 0/5 | May 26, 2004

Love the book or hate it, but no novel deserves the shabby treatment that director Roland Joff and screenwriter Douglas Day Stewart have given the classic novel.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jan 13, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 20, 2003

Corny, heavy-handed, but definitely romantic, The Scarlet Letter is a mindless piece of historical amusement.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 14, 2003