Lord Jim (2001)

54% of critics liked it
(13 reviews)
54% of users liked it
(1,700 ratings)

Joseph Conrad's cerebral, philosophical novel Lord Jim is streamlined and simplified by producer/director/writer Richard Brooks for the action-and-adventure crowd. Peter O'Toole plays the first officer of a tramp steamer, who, during a hurricane, cravenly abandons ship, leaving the passengers to… More Joseph Conrad's cerebral, philosophical novel Lord Jim is streamlined and simplified by producer/director/writer Richard Brooks for the action-and-adventure crowd. Peter O'Toole plays the first officer of a tramp steamer, who, during a hurricane, cravenly abandons ship, leaving the passengers to drown. Disgraced, O'Toole seeks out ways to redeem himself--not only in the eyes of the British maritime commission, but in his own eyes. He signs on to deliver a shipment of dynamite to a tribe of natives somewhere in the uncharted Orient. He also joins the natives' fight against feudal warlord Eli Wallach, hoping perhaps to die in their service, thus purging himself from shame (and, in true Messianic fashion, becoming a martyr in the process). Despite the impressive star lineup of O'Toole, Wallach, Jack Hawkins, Curt Jurgens and Paul Lukas, most press coverage went to leggy leading lady Daliah Lavi--including the 1964 Saturday Evening Post article about the making of Lord Jim, written by Richard Brooks himself. Filmed in Cambodia and Hong Kong, Lord Jim isn't precisely the Conrad novel, but fans weaned on O'Toole's Lawrence of Arabia will be satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Richard Brooks, Richard Brooks (VI)
Written By: Richard Brooks
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 2001 Wide
On DVD: Aug 24, 2004

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Brooks, while capturing the spirit of adventure of the novel, only superficially catches the inner emotional and spiritual conflict of its hero.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Something bewildering has happened in Richard Brooks's making of it, and it misses at being either Conrad or sheer entertainment cinema.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Joseph Conrad's elaborately structured fiction poses monstrous problems for film adaptation, and the solution proposed here by Richard Brooks -- plodding literal-mindedness -- doesn't come close to working.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
At best, it only resembles Conrad's 1900 novel.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
This stunningly exotic film of Conrad's classic features O'Toole in the title role.
, Time Out
Brooks' adaptation of Conrad's novel is immeasurably better than its reputation.
Oz, eFilmCritic.com
Epic in ambition, awful in delivery.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
This 1965 film does a fair job of capturing the spirit and storyline of Lord Jim except for one unfortunate compression. Viewers never see Jim's success in Patusan.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
A great O'Toole performance can't quite save this ponderous film.
, Film4
Pretentious, complex and overlong, O'Toole's one note performance is irritating and too earnest.