Critic Reviews
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90
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Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
While major stars thrust together on screen often end up undercutting each other, one of the pleasures of Becket is how easily and generously these two commanding actors play off each other, each allowing the other the space to make the most of their individual roles.
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83
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Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Burton is extraordinary in one of his rare good movie roles and O'Toole is regally madcap and larger than life. No doubt his Oscar-nominated appearance in "Venus" has prompted this rerelease of Becket. They make a fascinating then-and-now combination.
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83
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Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
O'Toole just keeps turning up the volume, and it's thrilling to watch.
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80
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Washington Post Desson Thomson
It is a snapshot of a great actor in his prime and a chance for us to see one of yesteryear's great films in all its kingly luster.
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75
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Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Peter Glenville's staging of the material is the opposite of cinematic, but the pleasure of these two extravagantly gifted actors at the top of their game - their diction! their conviction! their beauty! - is enormous.
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75
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Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Becket, now richly restored, is one of those '60s British theatrical spectaculars that we always imagine as a bit better than they were.
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70
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L.A. Weekly Ella Taylor
There's much to be said for a film that, however cheesily realized, sticks in memory for four decades.
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63
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Boston Globe
The one thing going for Becket is actually two things: Burton and O'Toole.
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50
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Chicago Reader Dave Kehr
One hundred forty-nine minutes of pure, unadulterated culture.
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30
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Village Voice
Dully overcomposed, the film evinces a Disneyed sense of palace life and reaches a laughable apotheosis when Henry and Becket's rendezvous on a beach is staged as a reunion between scorned lovers. In 1964, the film's innuendo might have seemed daring; today it's close to ridiculous.
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