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Rating:  - Depp deserved another Oscar nom for this performance!
He was really something in Pirates. But Johnny Depp is great in The Libertine. Ample proof once again that he is his generation's most underrated actor. His performance here should have garnered a 2nd consecutive year of Oscar nomination. Alas, this film must have slipped the radar of the voters, being too arthouse and "small" in nature. This is a compelling film for all but a must-see for all Depp fans.
Rating:  - For Depp fans only
If you love Johnny Depp (and I do) you may be able to sit through this movie. If not...well there's no reason to even try. He is so beautiful, charming and charismatic, that he could make even this dismal tale almost entertaining. The story itself is pretty predictable---the Earl of Rochester starts as a selfish, self-indulgent, self-destructive libertine and goes down from there. It's only a question of time before his flesh gives out from his excesses. At one point it seems that he finds something real to care about besides self-loathing in the actress, Lizzie Berry...but perhaps it's just that she won't give herself to him completely to him that keeps him on the hook. He met his match in self-interest.
Back to Depp---which is the only reason to see this---he is amazing. What other actor would have the emotional resources to play this guy with such aplomb? His performance seems effortless. I agree with others that it was Oscar worthy. I look forward to the rest of his career....I only hope that he steers clear of wierd stuff for a while and develops other parts of his own talent.
I didn't care much for Samanta Morton's performance. I found it hard to believe that such a remarkable man as the Earl of Rochester was supposed to be would fall in love with her. Perhaps it was just that Depp was so dazzling that anyone on the same screen with him would appear dim.
The subject matter is appropriately objectionable, which is to the point, so I didn't find it as shocking as I had feared. It was sort of silly and maybe a little sad, which, also was to the point.
The film was stylish and well made. I just didn't care a lot about any of the characters, despite Depp's brilliance, to take it very seriously.
Rating:  - Depp is stunning!!!
Johnny Depp plays the 17th Century poet, John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and a beast of a human being with his creative mind and cruel heart. After King Charles II lifts the banishment from London on Wilmot, he hopes the poet will return to the stage with a masterpiece. Wilmot simply wreaks havoc and continues to be his own worst enemy. Depp is splendid, and though Wilmot's character is despicable, we can't stop watching. When the witty Wilmot gets turned on his head by a strong willed actress struggling to tap into her talent on the stage, the wall around the poet's heart begins to wilt. Elizabeth Barry helps mine Wilmot's depth of emotion, but in the end he cannot possess his muse and he's losing his life. The tale comes to a sad end, but it is a beautifully written story of love and loss. In the end, I did like John Wilmot.
Chrissy K. McVay - Author
Rating: - Far more than expected
This film is about the English Restoration in general and John Earl of Rochester in particular, but it's also about art and the ways in which life and literature -- profane, sublime, and banal -- intertwine. It's beautifully acted (Samantha Morton astonishes!) and authentically staged, and just a whole lot more movie than I expected.
Rating: - Please enter a title for your review
An interesting paradox for the period drama fan, is your allegiance to the genre strong enough for the [...] to become defensible even though it's essentially the antithesis of the kind of sensibility you must have like the genre in the first place? If I didn't know better I'd wonder if Dani from Cradle Of Filth had some part in writing or directing this. Honestly though, your average 90s action blockbuster has longer more graphic sex scenes than this film. The majority of the [...] is verbal. Is the John Wilmot character unlikeable? I didn't think so. He sought to be open and honest about who he was and only hurt others when he held them up to the same scrutiny.
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