Angelina Jolie’s Oscar-tipped opera film Maria gets mixed reviews

Nate Jones wrote in Vulture, external that director Pablo Larraín’s film had been “pegged by Oscar-watchers as a title to watch out for”.

“A film about opera legend Maria Callas… set in the final weeks of her life… starring Angelina Jolie who’s making her grand return to screen after years away from the spotlight.

“Singing, stars, drugs, death, comebacks – if this film checked any more boxes, it’d be a tax form.”

The Daily Mail’s Brian Viner, external gave the film two stars, but praised Jolie’s performance.

He said the actress “spends most of Maria’s two hours as a whining, self-pitying, endlessly needy victim… all that said, she gives one of the performances of her career.

“This might be a flawed depiction of Callas but not by her; wearing enough mascara to sink one of Onassis’s ships she is completely believable in the role and even does some of her own warbling alongside some top-class lip-synching to the real Callas, having reportedly trained for seven months until she was ready to perform in public for the first time.

“Admittedly I’m no expert but I couldn’t tell the difference.”