You can't call W.E. a total disaster; it's too pretty, too nonsensical and finally too insignificant for that.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Los Angeles Times by Betsy Sharkey
W.E., Madonna's second go at directing a feature film, leaves one wishing she'd find other creative outlets for those times when she's bored with the pop-star life.
An uneven study of a notorious love story, raised by some superb performances and nuances, but brought down by awkward direction.
Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene
W.E.'s is a kind of dynamic pleasure that allows for non-shameful identification with the feminine and a fantasy of becoming what we see.
W.E. is less outright bad than underwhelming; if the director were unknown, it would hardly deserve notice. Like her first film, the 2008 "Filth and Wisdom," it suffers from countless storytelling flaws.
Burdened with risible dialogue and weak performances, picture doesn't have much going for it apart from lavish production design and terrific, well-researched costumes -- and it's in focus, which is more than can be said for the script.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
The movie is a folly, a desultory vanity project for its director and co-writer. But for those very reasons, W.E., by world-renowned personage and lesser-known filmmaker Madonna, is not without twisted interest.
It's a shame that W.E. smells so bad.
Movieline by Stephanie Zacharek
W.E. is actually two intertwining stories - or maybe, more accurately, two stories clumsily rubbing against each other in an awkward attempt to set off a spark.
The Hollywood Reporter by Todd McCarthy
As easy on the eyes and ears as it is embalmed from any dramatic point of view.