Description: Oscar® nominee* Johnny Depp delivers "a tour de force performance" (Baz Bamigboye, The Daily Mail) in the "seductively entertaining" (Jan Stuart, Newsday) The Libertine. As the celebrated writer and bad boy John Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester, Depp brings to life a decadent 17th century London. There, Wilmot falls passionately in love with his aspiring actress muse (Oscar® nominee Samantha Morton**), but is cast from the heights of privileged society when he scandalizes King Charles II (Oscar® nominee John Malkovich***) with a shockingly audacious play. At the depths of ruin, the rebel seeks redemption on his own terms. "Johnny Depp is brilliant," raves Cosmopolitan, while Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls The Libertine a "one-of-a-kind spellbinder."
Amazon.com: The beautifully sculpted face of Johnny Depp fits right in with this masterpiece of design. The Libertine--filmed in a grainy, color-muted chiaroscuro--captures the lush costumes, extravagant decor, and remarkable filth of Restoration England. John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester (Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ed Wood), warns the audience at the very beginning of the film that they will not like him. From there, he treats his wife cruelly, drinks to relentless excess, abuses his friendships, and generally wallows in dissipation, much to the dismay of King Charles II (John Malkovich, Dangerous Liaisons), who hopes that Rochester will write a play glorifying his reign. But Rochester finds his true inspiration (and the movie comes to life) when he sees a young actress named Lizzie Barry (Samantha Morton, Minority Report, Morvern Callar). Rochester sets out to make her the greatest actress of their time--and she, with some reluctance, submits to his teaching. The weakness of The Libertine is not that Rochester is unlikable; it's that he doesn't want to do anything. Barry galvanizes the movie because she burns with ambition, but Rochester's only apparent aim in life is an agonizingly slow self-destruction. Still, The Libertine has lurid Saturnalian visions, Morton is superb, Malkovich gives a typically insidious turn, and Depp, as always, finds moments of sad poetry in the bitterest of speeches. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Impressive piece of bawdy tragedy
This is a very entertaining film with great acting. The story is slightly OTT but has some great moments in it, especially between Johnny Depp (a great performance from him) and either John Malkovitch ... Read More
Rating: - No, I don't like you.
This is a beautiful, depressing miasma of a movie, with gorgeous sets and emotionally wrenching performances. Between the literal and metaphorical mud, the venereal rotting away of body and society, and ... Read More
Rating: - Depp best performance
Although this movie is only for adults, it is Johnny Depp's best acting role. His performance shows his range in acting from comedy to drama. He has absorbed the person of John Wilmot and when the movie ... Read More
Rating: - For once the deleted scenes were needed!
Usually the deleted scenes featured on DVD show just why they were deleted. But in this case, it would have made the movie make sense. I have the feeling that the director had spent so much money creating ... Read More
Rating: - A Grotesque Tour de Force
Johnny Depp delivers a mesmerizing performance as the debauched John Wilmot, the Second Earl of Rochester in 17th-century England - easily the best thing about this unfortunate, unpleasant adaptation of Stephen ... Read More
- Impressive piece of bawdy tragedy
- Depp best performance 
- A Grotesque Tour de Force