Critics reviews

Unfortunately, it’s precisely because those photographs have become so familiar that Lee was destined to be a frustrating film... It’s hard not to have those images in mind when watching the also familiar Kate Winslet portray Miller on screen. It's hard, as well, to be convinced by the movie, especially the 1977 scenes in which Winslet plays the 70-year-old Miller with none-too-subtle ageing make-up.

The Lee Miller story is rich with historical detail and Winslet is an exceptional performer... It would help, however, if there were fleshed out supporting characters with whom Miller could interact, grow, develop, clash and defy. Instead she’s simply surrounded by a plethora of mid-level co-stars with less than nothing to do.

Despite some tired storytelling devices, Lee is a handsomely made, moving biopic of a subject who deserves to be honoured — with stellar chemistry and performances from Kate Winslet and Andy Samberg.

Lee [feels] two-dimensional, a film that plods between different incidents in Miller’s life without any meaty, emotional depth to guide us... [But] as an argument for how urgent and powerful photography can be, and the debt we owe Miller for the lengths she went to take those images, Lee wins hands down.

Though proficiently realized and expectedly solemn, “Lee” lacks any formal impetus that can mimic the fury behind the eyes of its heroine. What Winslet, also a producer, brings to the screen... feels too honest and emotionally raw for this mannered cinematic portrait of a singular life.

There isn't anything abundantly awful about Lee, as it is a competently made film with some very strong lead performances, but it never fully engages with its subject or does a great job at exploring the inner mind of Miller. Both Winslet and Samberg pour everything into their performances in Lee as the rest of the film struggles to get on their level.

Although it is a kind of Hidden Figures-style exposé of the way women’s stories are erased from history, [Lee] isn’t simply a call-out of systemic sexism, it’s a bigger, more inclusive story about art and the purpose of art, about the point where creativity and reportage overlap.

Lee Miller’s real-life photography is celebrated for being bold, surreal, and iconoclastic. By taming that unruliness for the screen, “Lee” squanders that raw power... Though [the film] is not an unpleasant experience, it is a limp one.

Like Miller’s wartime photographs, “Lee” asks you to look at subjects you think you already know from a different angle and witness what should never be forgotten.

Lee is a perfect festival crowd-pleaser––handsomely made, well-acted, based on a true story, filled with recognizable stars. While it is not a great film, it is undoubtedly a good one, and that’s enough to warrant a recommendation.

Lee is the kind of stodgy biopic that feels of a time far before that, a bullet point-ticking list of events gussied up to be an actual movie... It’s only in the briefest of moments that the film justifies why it’s a narrative endeavour rather than a documentary and every one of those moments comes courtesy of its lead.

Kuras’ film is competent, polished and awards-ready. And while that all makes for a fine viewing experience, the movie also feels at odds with its subject — a restless woman whose passion and hurt drove her to action.