F Murray Abraham, Kathy Bates, Gabriel Byrne

Mary McGuckian (This is the Sea) has produced a handsome, if curiously inert version of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning novella. While the story presents a compelling inquiry into the ...( read more  read more... )nature of fate, this fourth adaptation, after a 1944 movie and 1958 tele-film, never quite overcomes some odd casting decisions. Set in Lima, Peru in the early-1700s, the story concerns the inquiry by Brother Juniper (Gabriel Byrne) into the deaths of five travelers who drowned when the bridge they were crossing collapsed. Was it divine intervention or random chance? As Juniper tells the Archbishop (Robert De Niro, making no effort to disguise his New York accent), while on trial for heresy, "Either we live by accident and die by accident or we live by plan and die by plan." Using his trial as a framing device, McGuckian flashes back to the circumstances that led the victims to their date with destiny. The primary players include the Viceroy (F. Murray Abraham), La Marquesa (Kathy Bates), the Abbess (Geraldine Chaplin), Uncle Pio (Harvey Keitel), La Perichole (Pilar López de Ayala), and twins Manuel and Esteban (Mark and Michael Polish of Northfork fame). So who fell? Unlike previous productions, the answer won't be revealed until the end, at which point Juniper will be forced to put his findings into a theological context--or suffer the cost. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Flixster Users

35% liked it

1,339 ratings

Critics

4% liked it

24 critics

PG, 120 min.

Directed by: Mary McGuckian

Release Date: December 22, 2004

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DVD Release Date: October 11, 2005

Stats: 75 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (75)


  • March 26, 2007
    A little long and a little boreing but good over all.
  • September 23, 2006
    Eh, I wasn't really expecting anything as I watched this, and I'm glad I didn't. It was alright, but I was glad that De Niro and Keitel covered their accents (unlike what the synopsis says) so at least you could focus what was going on and not have a blaring reminder of who they ...( read more)really are. None of the characters really caused me to feel for them, and in fact it was the opposite. You actually end up disliking pretty much all of them, so when they die you don't really care. It had some pretty witty and heartfelt moments, but they weren't enough to save this boring movie. De Niro as the Archbishop was by far the most compelling performance, with an incensed religous yet arrogant ferver that was entertaining to watch. But other than that the other actors were fairly drab. Not the worst movie out there, but definitely not one of the best. It's sad to say but almost anything would be better to watch than this.
  • October 2, 2007
    Great sets and costumes, good actors. Did not like anything else about it.
  • August 29, 2007
    god... :0- it casts a few of the best actors we have nowadays and yet it reaches the post of "one of the worst movies someone could ever think of doing!".
  • April 19, 2007
    Just seen it. Pretty good.
  • March 29, 2007
    Grandes actores num filme que nao e acessivel a todos. Vale pela perfeicao do cenario da altura incluindo guarda roupa. Fast Forward a partir de metade do filme senao adormecia.
    Visto em 28/03/2007
    NOTA: Sem legendas
  • March 10, 2007
    The perils of buying movie tickets when you don't speak the language! Thought we were seeing something else until realising the unusually long preview was actully the movie.
  • December 9, 2006
    Yeah, i'd like to see this, i think!
  • December 7, 2006
    Couldn't get into it.

Critic Reviews


July 29, 2005
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Best characterized as an honourable folly. full review

View more The Bridge of San Luis Rey reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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The Bridge of San Luis Rey Trivia


  • In Bridge of San Luis Rey, what was Gabriel Byrne's character investigating about the bridge?  Answer »
  • 'The Bridge of San Luis Rey' (2004) is a Robert De Niro film where he played the Archbishop of Peru.  Answer »

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