50
Chicago Tribune by Allison Benedikt
Mindless, predictable and mildly entertaining.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
Washington Post by Ann Hornaday
If I had to sum up Tristan & Isolde for a term paper, I'd say it's like "Braveheart" without the face paint, "Shrek," except the Lord Farquaad character is a sweetheart, and "Freaks and Geeks" because James Franco is so hot, even in Orlando Bloom-y ringlets.
50
In the end, the filmmakers strike a bad bargain between action and myth: In their obvious attempt to shoo everyone into the tent--romantic and roughneck alike--they don't serve either end of the spectrum very well.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer by Carrie Rickey
Franco, the hollow-cheeked, pouty-lipped actor best known as Spider-Man's nemesis Harry Osborn, plays Tristan like a biker boy with a broadsword.
42
Moves so sluggishly that someone must have been dosing the cast and crew with Nyquil.
70
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
This "Tristan" has its slightly silly moments, but rather like those fondly remembered epics of Hollywood past, its energy and entertainment value carry the day.
20
Austin Chronicle by Kimberley Jones
Screenwriter Dean Georgaris gets a hell of a pass here – the story is canon, and, in terms of emotional wallop, does all the heavy lifting for him – but he still manages to gunk up the works with dialogue that is dull-witted at best and outright howling at its worst.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
A feeble medieval epic with a lackluster romance at its center.
60
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
Just as there is something undeniably pleasant about an entertainment like Tristan & Isolde that delivers exactly what it promises, no less, no more.
75
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
By removing elements of magic and operatic excess from the story, the brothers Scott focus on what is, underneath, a story as tragic (and less contrived) as the one cited in the ads, "Romeo and Juliet."