'The Reckoning' Movie Review (2004)

By: Brad Brevet
Published: Friday, March 19th 2004 at 12:00 AM

Often times a movie will appeal to you due to a well constructed trailer, but just as often you can be utterly disappointed beyond belief just as I was with The Reckoning.

Set against the backdrop of 14th Century England, The Reckoning is an attempt at a medieval crime story that ends up being one of the most ridiculous and boring stories ever told on film.

Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) plays Nicholas, a disgraced priest turned outlaw, on the run from his old village due to adultery, and while running through the forest he comes across a band of actors trying to make their way across the countryside in search of money and shelter.

Nicholas joins the group of actors as they have just lost one of their players in quite the ridiculous situation that I won't even mention, and as they wander they come across a town where a rowdy crowd is condemning a woman to death for the murder of a young boy, and after a few coincidences Nicholas soon finds reason as to why the woman may be innocent. Unfortunately this is more of a mystery for Scooby and the gang in a 30-minute cartoon rather than a full length feature film.

I have yet to mention that not only Paul Bettany stars in this film but a couple of other recognizable actors such as Willem Dafoe and Brian Cox, but their acting is cornier than it is good.

Willem Dafoe has always been a bad actor and acting like the Green Goblin in a medieval crime thriller that takes attempts at exploiting church corruption and the public's naivety to believe whatever their "leader" tells them.

There is just too much for me to criticize but if you are still not convinced you will be once you see courtroom drama unfold in a medieval play. Yeah, you heard me right, a medieval play.

I was watching the time throughout this film and I recommend you save yours and skip it.

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