Mr. Turner (2014)
This must be one of the worst movies ever made.
It certainly is one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
J.M.W. Turner is a famous painter, because his paintings have quality. But this movie about Turner has no quality at all.
When we have a movie about a famous artist, I assume it will cover his or her life and his or her works.
I also assume it will explain why this person is regarded as a great artist. This is not the case here.
One scene follows another. But the scenes are not connected with each other in any way. There is no information about where we are in time or place.
Sometimes Turner meets other people and talks to them. But there is no information about who they are and why he meets them. Most of the time he does not even talk. He is just grunting!
In one scene, Turner meets another man. They seem to be good friends. Perhaps they are brothers. But this is not the case. After a while, we realize that this man is actually his father! But this does not make any sense, because these two men seem to have almost the same age!
Timothy Spall, who plays Turner junior, was born in 1957. Paul Jesson, who plays Turner senior, was born in 1946.
The actor who plays the father is only eleven years older than the actor who plays his son! At least one of them is seriously miscast!
What do reviewers say about this drama?
Here are some results:
68 percent = IMDb
69 percent = Meta (the audience)
94 percent = Meta (the critics)
56 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
97 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
When you look at Meta and Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that there is a huge gap between the audience and the critics. In this case, the audience has more common sense than the critics.
On Amazon UK there are at the moment more than 2,200 ratings of this product, more than 1,300 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.2 stars which corresponds to a rating of 84 percent. Here are the details:
5 stars = 59 percent (more than 500 reviews)
4 stars = 18 percent (more than 200 reviews)
3 stars = 12 percent (more than 100 reviews)
2 stars = 5 percent (more than 100 reviews)
1 star = 6 percent (more than 200 reviews)
While I cannot understand the numerous positive ratings, I do understand the negative ratings and I agree with them.
This historical drama is an embarrassment for cast and crew. I cannot understand why anyone would want to be associated with it in any way.
It is not often that I offer a low rating for a movie or a book. But in this case, it is the right thing to do, because this drama is a total disappointment.
** My rating is 1 star (20 percent)
** Do not buy this movie – it is a waste of money!
** Do not watch this movie – it is a waste of time!
** If you don't believe me, go ahead and watch it. When you do, you will find out that what I say is true.
Here are some
basic facts about this drama:
** Writer & director: Mike Leigh
** Premiere: Cannes Film Festival 2014
** Released on DVD in 2015
** Run time: 150 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Timothy Spall as J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) – the famous painter
** Paul Jesson as William Turner (1745-1829) – the father
REFERENCES
Standing in the Sun:
A Life of J.M.W. Turner
By Anthony Bailey
1998
Turner
By James Hamilton
2007
Turner: The Extraordinary Life and
Momentous Times of J.M.W. Turner
By Franny Moyle
2016
*****
The famous British painter
J.M.W. Turner
(1775-1851)
This is a self-portrait
painted around 1799
*****
The Slave Ship
Original title:
Slavers Throwing overboard
the Dead and Dying -
Typhoon coming on
by J.M.W. Turner
(1840)
*****
Turner was probably inspired to paint this painting
after reading about the slave ship the Zong
in a recent book about the history of
the trans-Atlantic slave trade
*****
For information about the slave ship,
see the following item:
The Zong: A Massacre,
the Law & the End of Slavery
by James Walvin
(2011)
*****
This drawing shows
a horrible moment on the Zong in 1781
*****
On the Zong 1781:
Slavers throwing slaves overboard
*****
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