CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 17: Johnny Depp attends the "Jeanne du Barry" photocall at the 76th annual ... [+]
Jeanne du Barry — Johnny Depp’s first movie in four years — is getting a “rotten” reception from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
The historical period drama is making its debut in U.S. theaters Thursday just under a year after it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
In the film, Depp plays King Louis XV, who has an affair with a commoner, Jeanne, played by French cinema icon Maïwenn — who also directs the film.
Jeanne du Barry’s reviews upon its domestic opening Thursday received a 46% “rotten” mark on the Tomatometer from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on the average rating of 67 reviews. The rating includes new reviews in conjunction with the U.S. release combined with critics’ reviews of the film when it premiered at Cannes in May 2023.
The film’s Audience Score — which is based on ratings by registered Rotten Tomatoes users — was not available yet as of the publication of this article.
Released by indie distributor Vertical Entertainment, Jeanne du Barry marks Depp’s first feature film role since his 2020 indie drama Minamata.
In the interim the actor’s career had been on pause because of the civil defamation proceedings between Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Some Reviews Were Complimentary Of ‘Jeanne Du Barry’
Not all of the aggregated Rotten Tomatoes reviews of Jeanne du Barry were negative.
In his Tuesday review in the San Francisco Chronicle, critic Mick Lasalle writes, “[Johnny] Depp is the reason that many Americans will see Jeanne du Barry, and though his performance has been largely criticized as flat and listless, I think he’s quite good in the role. He exudes the quality of a man weary of kingship, who feels trapped inside formality.”
In his Cannes review of the film in 2023, Variety critic Peter Debruge gave the film a “fresh” rating, writing, “The critics will come with knives sharpened, but let it be said: Maïwenn is a major filmmaker, and Jeanne du Barry demands to be taken seriously.”
Debruge also noted how an older woman sitting behind him openly wept during the film’s end credits, noting, “Clumsy as the film can be, Maïwenn taps into the emotional core of a most unusual relationship, such that we mourn how and why it eventually dissolves.”
Among the “rotten” reviews, Daily Beast critic Esther Zuckerman in her Cannes 2023 review of Jeanne du Barry, writes, “Confusing? Misguided? Maybe the most pro-French monarchy movie you'll ever see? (Sorry, Marie Antoinette.) But none of that really has to do with Depp beyond his very casting. Depp is essentially a nonentity in the movie.”
Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson gave the film a “fresh” rating out of Cannes in 2023, yet took huge swipes at Depp, writing, “Looking pallid and tired, Depp haunts the film like a grim specter — he’s not exactly a dashing love interest. To those who remain fans of Depp, I can say that he seems to speak French well. To those no longer enamored of the actor, well, at least Louis gets smallpox and dies.”
Both Depp and Maïwenn have done interviews in the weeks before Jeanne du Barry’s release both in the U.S. and overseas. Maïwenn however, was angered by a British publication’s characterization of Depp, while Depp took the opportunity to rip studio executives in a recent interview over their decisions to spend “ridiculous” amounts of money on films that people don’t care to see.
Jeanne du Barry is new in U.S. theaters.
