93
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Los Angeles TimesSheila BensonLos Angeles TimesSheila BensonThe performances of Close and Silver are flawless, but it is Irons' portrait that remains behind, an enigmatic after-image… Reversal of Fortune is a delectable tour through facets of the lives of the rich and famous that Robin Leach wouldn't touch with a forked stick. [17 Oct 1990]
- 100Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversWhat makes it such a mesmerizing, wickedly witty entertainment is the revealing portrait it paints of an era in which everyone is presumed guilty where greed is concerned... It's an often chilly movie, but the chill cuts to the bone.
- 100Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyFunny and scary, Reversal is a tour de force for Schroeder, who examines the idle rich, the intricacies of the legal system, and the imperatives of morality concisely but with unmatched brio.
- 100Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThe juxtaposition of liberal Jewish attorney Dershowitz (Silver) and von Bulow working together on the latter's defense makes for some engagingly offbeat drama, with some interesting insights into the legal process.
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertIt is a surprisingly entertaining film - funny, wicked, sharp-tongued and devious. It does not solve the case, nor intend to. I am afraid it only intends to entertain.
- 100Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittBarbet Schroeder directed the ingeniously made film, which weaves fact, hypothesis, and conjecture into a harrowing yet continually gripping and often highly amusing narrative. [12 Oct 1990]
- 100The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyWhat makes it so instructively entertaining is the pivotal character of Claus von Bulow, played by Jeremy Irons within an inch of his professional life. It's a fine, devastating performance, affected, mannerly, edgy, though seemingly ever in complete control. [17 Oct 1990]
- 88USA TodayMike ClarkUSA TodayMike ClarkIf Silver is superb, Irons is transcendent. As some forgotten comic once said of George Sanders: A grapefruit wouldn't dare squirt in his eye. [17 Oct 1990]
- 88Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrIrons' Von Bulow is easily the most attractive and entertaining movie heavy since James Mason's villain in ''North by Northwest,'' a figure with whom he shares a taste for elegant homes and wry understatement. [17 Oct 1990]
- 60The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelDershowitz's life-enhancing scenes are flatulent, and they're dishonest: the movie seems to be putting us down for enjoying the scandal satire it's dishing up. [19 Nov 1990]