RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / The Fall
The Fall

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Showtimes & Tickets
  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Fall (2008)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
60 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:97

Fresh:58

Rotten:39

Average Rating:6.2/10

Consensus: More visually elaborate than the fragmented story can sometimes support, The Fall walks the line between labor of love and filmmaker self-indulgence.

Rated: 18

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:00-00-0000

Synopsis: Award-winning music video, commercial and film director Tarsem Singh (The Cell) creates a moving and seamless blending of mundane life in a 1915 Los Angeles hospital with a visually sumptuous... Award-winning music video, commercial and film director Tarsem Singh (The Cell) creates a moving and seamless blending of mundane life in a 1915 Los Angeles hospital with a visually sumptuous fantasy world of exotic bandits, evil tyrants, dream-like palaces and breathtaking landscapes. Shot on location in 28 countries around the world, The Fall stars Golden Globe nominated actor Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies, Infamous, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) and Justine Waddell (Mansfield Park, Chaos) and features a breakthrough performance by first-time Romanian child actress Catinca Untaru. --© Roadside Attractions [More]

Starring: Lee Pace, Justine Waddell, Daniel Caltagirone, Leo Bill

Starring: Lee Pace, Justine Waddell, Daniel Caltagirone, Leo Bill

Director: Tarsem

Director: Tarsem
Studio: Roadside Attractions

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    Lee Pace
    >
    Open Sesame
    >
1 - 3 of 3

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for The Fall

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

One of the most beautiful things ever put on the big screen. On the other hand, the story is far too thin for adults, and far too dark for kids.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/03/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The film may look a treat in a static kind of way but the whole is a piece of turgid pictorialism that ends up unbearably dull.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
10/03/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

While nice to look at, it’s also a very tedious slice of magical realism lacking in tension, suspense and, indeed, magic.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
10/03/08
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

Beguiling, befuddling, brilliant. It’s sure to divide audiences but, for all its ocular opulence and wild fantasy, at heart The Fall is a tender, touching tale about childhood, hope and the power of story.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
10/03/08
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
Total Film

But The Fall defies low expectations, proving the director can now partner his exquisite pictures with a ripping yarn.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
10/03/08
Rob Daniel
Rob Daniel
Sky Movies

The Fall is hugely ambitious, but ultimately it's just an intriguing folly.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
10/03/08
David Gritten
David Gritten
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Does The Fall amount to anything more than a vast sugar-frosted folly? I'm not convinced it does, although its wanton extravagance is not without charm. Singh has money to burn and he builds a pretty bonfire.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/03/08
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The visuals that illustrate the fairytale fantasy are extraordinary. But the film has none of the menacing brilliance of Pan’s Labyrinth. The result is a triumph of style over talent.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
10/03/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A must-watch for lovers of the strange and unusual, this visually ravishing oddball drama has sequences of genuine beauty and charm - even if it won't be to everyone's taste.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/03/08
Saxon Bullock
Saxon Bullock
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The pacing drags and the clichéd tussle between childhood innocence and adult disillusionment can only go one way. Better to experience it than think about it, fair to say.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
10/03/08
Trevor Johnston
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tarsem’s film is breathtakingly imaginative, but at times you’re left feeling like you’ve eaten too many sweets.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/03/08
Kat Brown
Kat Brown
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Enjoyable, well acted and visually stunning fantasy drama that is sure to divide audiences but is unlike anything else you'll see all year.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/02/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

A long, long trip through the museum

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
08/26/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
Slant Magazine

I wonder if it's unforgivable heresy to say The Cell is badly underestimated and due for revisionism while The Fall, despite its relative obscurity, is badly overestimated.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment 1 Comment
06/09/09
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Gerald Peary
Gerald Peary
Boston Phoenix

...a movie that not only expected me to pay attention, it assumed that I could.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
02/02/09
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
Film.com

The girl and the hospital patients and staff also turn up in his improvised adventure, extravagantly garbed by costume designer Eiko Ishioka.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/17/08
Bill Stamets
Bill Stamets
Chicago Reader

Something like a Sir David Lean epic crossed with trippy offshoots of tall tales of Zorro, Ali Baba and Pecos Bill rolled into one, The Fall is a sun-kissed companion to Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. A brilliant follow-up from Tarsem Singh.

Full Review Source: Suite101.com | comment Comment
11/07/08
Nick Rogers
Nick Rogers
Suite101.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/18/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Tarsem has found a home for his endlessly unique visions, and (wouldn't you know?) it's beyond artifice and stealing toward art.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Fall

December 08, 2008: Roger Ebert Ranks 2008's 20 Best Films Opens in new window
December isn't even halfway over yet, and many of us have already had our fill of year-end lists -- but Roger Ebert's list of the 20 best films of 2008 is one worth making an... More...

October 06, 2008: Exclusive: The Fall - Tarsem's Visual Companion - Part 2
Its otherworldly story split critics down the middle, but none can argue with the power of its imagery. Continuing our exclusive look at the stunning visuals of Tarsem's The... More...

October 03, 2008: Exclusive: The Fall - Tarsem's Visual Companion - Part 1
Its otherworldly story split critics down the middle, but none can argue with the power of its imagery. Opening in the UK this week, Tarsem's The Fall is one of the year's most... More...

October 03, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: How To Lose Friends & Alienate People Does Just That; Whilst Brideshead Revisited Is Resisted
In the UK cinemas this week we have two literary adaptations with Simon Pegg as an irksome hack in How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, and Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited... More...

See All

More Movies

Coming Soon
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date

arrow arrow Show more Show less

75% 75% Humpday 18/12
44% 44% Nine 18/12
— Avatar 17/12
— St. Trinian's 2: The L… 18/12

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • James Cameron Developing Sci-Fi Film for Fox Source: ComingSoon.net
0
  • Peter Jackson Reveals Which LotR Characters Will Return for The Hobbit Source: MTV
0
  • Josh Brolin Rumored for Men in Black 3 Source: Los Angeles Times
0
  • Malkovich and Hathaway Rumored for Spider-Man 4 Source: Movieline
36
  • Avatar Picks Up Golden Globes Buzz Source: HitFix
65
  • Disney's Upcoming Hand-Drawn Movies Revealed Source: Slashfilm
19
  • Cameron Explains Blue Avatar Aliens Source: MTV
37
  • Matt Damon Expects Greengrass to Return for Fourth Bourne Source: Collider.com
10
  • Burton's Dark Shadows Rising in 2010 Source: Sci Fi Wire
11
  • Exclusive: The World of Where the Wild Things Are
27
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
57
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
41
  • Five Favorite Films With Avatar's Sam Worthington
39
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
37
  • Total Recall: Keith David's Best Movies
35
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Blind Side Takes the Lead
29
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
28
  • Friday Harvest: Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and more!
24
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Avatar's Sam Worthington
39
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Fall at Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Fall at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.