45
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliRegardless, though it may be occasionally slow-moving and perhaps a half-hour too long, this film is put together with care and a mindfulness of quality.
- 50Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumBy the time [James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala] get around to articulating a story, the inhibitions imposed by their "good taste" begin to seem more like gutlessness, and what initially promises to be an exposure of American liberal doublethink about slavery winds up as a querulous wimp out on a subject that the underrated "Mandingo" is better equipped to deal with.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe movie tells no clear story and has no clear ideas.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittSlow, beautifully filmed, Nolte's Jefferson implausible.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanBereft of any flesh-and-blood honesty, the last half of the movie plays like a ludicrous PBS version of "Mandingo."
- 50Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThe team of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala drops the ball with this droopy, snail-paced prigs-in-wigs movie.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannJefferson in Paris is dull, sluggish and unfocused.
- 50San Francisco ExaminerBarbara ShulgasserSan Francisco ExaminerBarbara ShulgasserThis movie would have had a chance of being interesting had it been about Sally Hemmings.
- 40EmpireEmpireSadly, beyond the wigs, costumes and exquisite set design, its a vacant enterprise.
- 40Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranA wax-museum movie that is both bland and reverential despite its focus on the great man's love life, Jefferson is hampered by its disconnected protagonist.