70
As modest conspiracy-mongering, the movie is perfectly robust, earning its dramatic impact from its classical sense of intrigue and Philippe Torreton's testy performance in the title role.
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70
And though at over two hours the movie is too long and too slow, de Caunes sustains a sense of mystery and ambiguity to the end of what is both a satisfying character study and a stately quasi-thriller for amateur historians.
38
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
The second half of Antoine de Caunes' Monsieur N., about the post-exile life and death of Napoleon, plays less like a movie than a suggestion for one. This is a great disappointment because the first half is very cinematic and very compelling.
60
Even when the script takes a turn for the chatty, there's always something pretty to look at.
70
An intricate, fetchingly lensed tale of historical speculation framed as a plausible thriller.
70
De Caunes and screenwriter René Manzor do well when they dwell on history from a mundane human perspective, but Monsieur N. is too dry and too unsurprising for its two-hour running time.
80
The New Republic by Stanley Kauffmann
The film holds us principally because of its Napoleon. Philippe Torreton doesn't perform the role: he exists.
80
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
If it all adds up to too much for one film to encompass with ease, Monsieur N, is certainly richer than most of what you'll find on the History Channel.
50
The film tends to be pretentious and melodramatic; and Grant, better suited to comic roles, gives a heavy-handed performance.