A selection of Alan Rickman's movie reviews

Alan Rickman was one of the most celebrated and popular actors of all time, having enjoyed starring roles in the likes of Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Michael Collins and Galaxy Quest.

An acclaimed performer on stage and screen, fans were hit hard when news of his passing came to light in January of 2016.

Casino scenes they don’t show in the movies

Wednesday 23 April 2025, 10:06

Exploring the evolution of modern filmmaking - A new era of storytelling

Sunday 6 April 2025, 09:22

Rickman had long been suffering from prostate cancer.

He is known for his sharp wit and humour away from the limelight, and this is highlighted in a book which details entries from his personal diary. 

Rickman was not only an actor himself, but obviously a movie fan, and spent time jotting down mini movie reviews of films he watched over the years.

Here is a selection:

In the Line of Fire, 1993

Unbelievable Die Hard rip-off. Adversaries on the phone to each other, falling from a skyscraper etc, etc.

Good Will Hunting, 1997

Ultimately a bit of a let down. Matt Damon is a really fine actor, however. But the film feels as if it is looking for a sense of purpose, or that it has too many. And Robin Williams is too sweet from the word go.

Billy Elliot, 2000

Jamie Bell is quite wonderful – not a sentimental second in his performance. The film is Stephen Daldry at his most calculating. It is almost as if he has fed the requirements into a computer. The film could have been beautiful but its cynical use of the miners’ strike, added to a long list of untruths (the boy in the dress, the snowman, the brother’s change of heart), make the newspaper headlines – “The Best British Film Ever” – an insult to Losey, Schlesinger, Anderson, Powell and Pressburger, Newell, Minghella and the rest.

Gosford Park, 2000

There it is – the script perfectly realised on the screen. And I felt seriously detached. Maybe it’s a problem when you don’t really care about any of the characters. Because try as he might, Robert Altman can’t make us see the story through the servants’ eyes. The upper classes will always stop that. That’s the point.

About a Boy, 2002

The kind of depressing English film where single mothers and Amnesty workers are ugly people in oversized sweaters.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona, 2008

Woman’s Weekly tosh from Woody Allen.

12 Years a Slave, 2013

A great film, I am told. Would I watch it twice? No. What does it say? Should Chiwetel get an Oscar? No. He’s in it a lot, looking worried, and breathing heavily. Is that enough? Fassbender, however, is very fine. Makes you ferret to understand him. Somehow, I was always watching actors, not a story.