A kind person by the name of Takeru over at Awards Watch decided to tabulate the average scores from the four main critics poll happening at Venice ( international, FIPRESCI, Italian and Russian grids).
Is it a surprise that Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” tops the poll of polls with an average score of 4.15? Of course not. If you read French film criticism, like I do, you would know that Roman Polanski’s latest has been garnering glowing reviews in Europe. However, American critics have, unsurprisingly, panned the film.
Some competition films missing from the below list, which were screened less than 24 hours ago, include “No. 7 Cherry Lane,” “Saturday Fiction,” and “Babyteeth.” Left to screen on Thursday and Friday are “A Herdade,” “Gloria Mundi,” “Waiting For The Barbarians,” and “La Mafia Non E Piu Quella Di Una Volta.”
1. An Officer and a Spy - 4,15
2. Joker - 4,05
3. Marriage Story - 3,80
4. Martin Eden - 3,61
5. The Laundromat - 3,44
6. About Endlessness - 3,20
7. The Truth - 3,13
8. Ad Astra - 2,86
9. No.7 Cherry Lane - 2,86
10. Ema - 2,79
11. The Mayor of Rione Sanità - 2,73
12. The Painted Bird - 2,46
13. The Perfect Candidate - 2,45
14. Guest of Honour - 2,43
15. Wasp Network - 2,42
“An Officer and a Spy” currently holds a 58% rotten score and 56 score on Metacritic.
IndieWire critic David Ehrlich (review), Variety’s Debprah Young (review), Variety’s Owen Gleiberman (review), The Playlist’s Christina Newland (review) and The Wrap’s Alonso Duralde (review) all disliked Polanski’s film. Thank the heavens for Glenn Kenny’s rave for The New York Times, which reads more like the French reviews I have read. In his well-written and passionate take on the film, Kenny says the film “has something very real and urgent to say about the world we live in today. It's kind of a shame you'll probably never get to see it.”
Fact of the matter is this, absolutely no one expected American critics to like this movie. Its fate Stateside was written in the stars when the American media lost their marbles in outrage over Venice allowing Polanski’s latest to compete in competition. In other words, “An Officer and a Spy” never had a chance. If the film does end up winning the Golden Lion this coming weekend, and that is a big if, the chances of finding an American distributor will be greatly ameliorated.
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.