--- title: 'Mortdecai' Reviews: The Worst (and Funniest) Things Critics Said description: Critics really hate the new Johnny Depp movie canonical: https://time.com/3679569/mortdecai-critics-reviews/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-23T15:58:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:49:07.956Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Mortdecai' Reviews: The Worst (and Funniest) Things Critics Said og:description: Critics really hate the new Johnny Depp movie og:url: https://time.com/3679569/mortdecai-critics-reviews/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a5d31489c1a41a4/69877b84cd1bba73926f4cfb/mo_d22_03859_r.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: MO_D22_03859.NEF og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Mortdecai' Reviews: The Worst (and Funniest) Things Critics Said twitter:description: Critics really hate the new Johnny Depp movie twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a5d31489c1a41a4/69877b84cd1bba73926f4cfb/mo_d22_03859_r.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are the Worst Things Critics Had to Say About _Mortdecai_  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jan 23, 2015 3:58 PM UTC  Gywneth Paltrow and Johnny Depp in Mortdecai Gywneth Paltrow and Johnny Depp in MortdecaiDavid Appleby—Lionsgate  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jan 23, 2015 3:58 PM UTC Sometimes the best movie reviews are the ones written about the worst movies. Despite boasting an all-star cast, Johnny Depp’s new film _Mortdecai_ has quickly emerged as an early contender for worst film of the year. It has invoked the wrath of critics (and currently has a 8% on [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mortdecai/)), inspiring some memorably savage critical barbs. Here are some of the harshest: [**Robbie Collin for** **_The Telegraph_**](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11356689/Mortdecai-review-psychotically-unfunny.html) “It’s hard to think of a way in which the experience of watching the new Johnny Depp film could be any worse, unless you returned home afterwards to discover that Depp himself had popped round while you were out and set fire to your house.” [**Kyle Smith** **for** **_The New York Post_**](http://nypost.com/2015/01/22/johnny-depps-eccentric-playboy-comedy-mortdecai-is-a-fop-flop/) “_Mortdecai_ typifies playful English wit in much the same way as Wimbledon is known for its monster truck rallies.” [**Brian Truitt,** **_USA Today_**](http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/01/23/mortdecai-movie-review/22181023/) “The actor has done a lot better than this forgettable piece of bargain-basement low art.” [**Elizabeth Weitzman for** **_New York Daily News_**](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/mortdecai-movie-review-article-1.2088190) “Without anything funnier to offer, \[director David\] Koepp leans heavily on a pointless running joke about the way Mortdecai’s mustache continually triggers Johanna’s gag reflex. Should you find yourself subjected to this baffling display of wasted talent, time and resources, prepare to share her understandable instinct.” [**Stephen Holden for** **_The New York Times_**](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/movies/mortdecai-starring-johnny-depp.html) “What a frantically dull spectacle this vanity project is.” [**Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com**](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mortdecai-2015) _“_Like the film as a whole, \[Johnny Depp’s\] performance is such a spectacular miscalculation that it begins to generate a strange fascination in that you almost want to keep watching just to see how much worse it can possibly get before it finally comes to a merciful and long-overdue conclusion.” [**David Edelstein,** **_New York Magazine_**](http://www.vulture.com/2015/01/movie-review-mortdecai.html) “Having combed Roget’s _Thesaurus_ in vain for a suitable adjective to describe the Johnny Depp comedy _Mortdecai_, I’m forced to say it’s just … bad.” But not everyone thought the movie was a complete disaster. The _Los Angeles Times_ had a more generous take: [**Gary Goldstein,** **_LA Times_**](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mortdecai-review-20150123-story.html) “If the rest of the movie, directed by David Koepp (_Premium Rush_, _Secret Window_), isn’t quite as memorable as Depp’s screwball stylings, it’s a mostly zippy, well turned-out concoction. Translated: It’s better than expected.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3679569/mortdecai-critics-reviews/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3679569/mortdecai-critics-reviews/"},"headline":"Here Are the Worst Things Critics Had to Say About Mortdecai","datePublished":"2015-01-23T15:58:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:49:07.956Z","description":"Critics really sharpened their pens for Johnny Depp's latest","url":"https://time.com/3679569/mortdecai-critics-reviews/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a5d31489c1a41a4/69877b84cd1bba73926f4cfb/mo_d22_03859_r.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a5d31489c1a41a4/69877b84cd1bba73926f4cfb/mo_d22_03859_r.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MO_D22_03859.NEF","caption":"MO_D22_03859.NEF","creditText":"David Appleby—Lionsgate","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3679569/mortdecai-critics-reviews/","name":"Here Are the Worst Things Critics Had to Say About Mortdecai"}}]}] ```