Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 55% of critics gave positive reviews based on 87 reviews. Another review aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a 53/100 approval rating based on 23 reviews.
Many critics praised the film for its excellent animation and the charming title character, but complained that it had an unoriginal and scrambled story. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded three stars and wrote in his review that "The Tale of Despereaux is one of the most beautifully drawn animated films I've seen", but he also wrote "I am not quite so thrilled by the story". Christy Lemire of the Associated Press was more critical, writing that the film "feels obvious, preachy and heavy-handed."
The film opened at the third position behind Seven Pounds and Yes Man with $10,507,000 in 3,104 theaters with an $3,385 average; on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the film was in second. The film closed in March 2009 after grossing $50 million domestically, which was lower than its $60 million budget. The film grossed an additional $37 million overseas for a total of $87 million, making it a modest success.
Read more about this topic: The Tale Of Despereaux (film)
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)