Alan Rickman’s diaries reveal harsh movie reviews

To paraphrase Severus Snape, the Dark Arts are many, varied and eternal. So, too, are Alan Rickman’s diaries, excerpts of which have popped up online. In these diaries, which Rickman kept beginning in the early 1970s long before he had a legitimate acting career going, the award-winning actor noted his thoughts on various collaborators, real-life tragedies and his Harry Potter experiences. But the most amusing may relate to Alan Rickman’s reviews of the many movies he “enjoyed” over the years.

Alan Taylor, the editor of Alan Rickman’s diaries, shared exclusive entries with The Guardian from August 2000 when he first accepted the role of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise to July 2011.

Some notable movie reviews from Alan Rickman include:

Clint Eastwood vehicle 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.”

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 [Ejiofor] get an Oscar? No. He’s in it a lot, looking worried, and breathing heavily. Is that enough? [Michael] Fassbender, however, is very fine. Makes you ferret to understand him. Somehow, I was always watching actors, not a story.”

So anytime you think you’ve made a successful, Oscar-winning movie, just think: Alan Rickman probably wasn’t that wild about it.

Alan Rickman passed away in 2016 at the age of 69.