Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Epic and intimate, historical and contemporary, moving and thought-provoking, the impressive The Princess of Montpensier has something for all and sundry but especially for those who like to believe that films can be as boldly intelligent as they are entertaining.

Village Voice by Nick Pinkerton

The finest Western you'll see this year is set in aristocratic 16th-century France, in the heat of Counter-Reformation.

Washington Post by Mark Jenkins

At times, "Princess" resembles a widescreen Hollywood western, with exhilarating Steadicam shots of horsemen galloping across broad plains and corpse-strewn fields.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

He is one of the most prolific and generous of directors, and there is no word that summarizes a "Tavernier film," except, usually, masterful.

Boston Globe by Mark Feeney

There is a great and perhaps unique French cinematic tradition of braiding together love and manners and the past. Think of "Children of Paradise," "Casque d'Or," "The Earrings of Madame de . . .," "Elena and Her Men." Now one can think of The Princess of Montpensier, too.

The A.V. Club by Noel Murray

Tavernier turns a tale of courtly duty and manners into a tense, twisty drama.

New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman

The cast and crew render every detail so exquisitely that there's almost too much to take in at once. Repeat viewings will be required.

The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt

One of the finest costume dramas in a long while.

Boxoffice Magazine by Richard Mowe

The script does not provide that much illumination, yet the power of the acting and the quality of the visual imagery carry us along.

Variety by Leslie Felperin

There's no subtextual allusion really to contempo France or civil wars elsewhere in the world today, just the feeling that this is an interesting story in its own right, fascinating precisely because it's so at odds with modern sensibilities.

Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer

Courtly intrigue should be intriguing, and in that sense, The Princess of Montpensier – although it's somewhat wan and too cerebral for its own good – does a fairly keen job.

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

Viewers unfamiliar with the politics of the era might feel lost as the plot unfolds, and the 139-minute running time might be a bit much. But why quibble?

NPR by Jeannette Catsoulis

Using de Chabannes as the film's conscience and moral fulcrum, Tavernier - just as he did in his 1996 film "Captain Conan" - exposes the shame of a meaningless war and the psychological damage borne by those fighting it.

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

The French director Bertrand Tavernier deploys some smart ideas in this film, a period story about wars on the battlefield and those closer to home, but there's something a bit goatish in his attention to some female charms.

Time Out by David Fear

The filmmaker provides intellectual rigor to spare, yet precious little narrative focus (you virtually wander into plot strands) and there's a stiffness to the proceedings that neither Wilson's charisma nor Ulliel and Thierry's screen-ready beauty can remedy.