"Lizzie" heats up theaters over the weekend

Following wide release, reviewers have mixed reactions

FALL RIVER – “Lizzie” wasn’t exactly slashing the competition at the box office this weekend, but the film based on the city’s favorite accused murderess finished at a respectable No. 24.

“Lizzie,” starring Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, played at some 240 theaters with Fall River’s Picture Show Entertainment among those select cinemas. Despite “Lizzie” not being widely distributed, it saw sales increase by 439 percent this weekend over last to gross at $325,239.

“Lizzie” offers a reimagining of how and why the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden took place in Fall River in 1892. Still unsolved, the cold case definitely heated up the theaters this weekend as it mixed murder, love, and betrayal into a bloody cocktail for a new generation of true-ish crime fans.

“Lizzie” did better than “Jurassic World,” but the dino flick has been out for 14 weeks and “Juliet, Naked,” out for five weeks. It was, however, beat by “Ant-Man and the Wasp” by one spot.

The weekend’s blockbuster was “The House With A Clock In Its Walls,” unsurprisingly, which brought in $30 million.

Rotten Tomatoes listed Lizzie with 66 percent favorable reviews on its tomatometer. With 85 reviews, “Lizzie” garnered 56 “fresh” reviews and 29 “rotten.”

Reviewer Al Alexander of the Patriot Ledger had this to say: “It’s like Jane Austen hooking up with Stephen King, as blood and women’s rights gush together in an act of uncivil liberty. Murder never felt so good.”

Another reviewer, Tom Santilli of AXS.com, said: “If the real Lizzie Borden would have known that her life story would be told in such a drab, lackluster vehicle like “Lizzie,” she might have just turned the axe on herself.”

Overall, Rotten Tomatoes users gave it 73 percent with an average rating of 4.1 of 5.

“Lizzie forces audiences to take a new look at a widely known true-crime story – even if the well-acted end result is never quite as gripping as it could be,” according to the Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus.

“Lizzie” is showing at Picture Show Entertainment with show times listed through Wednesday.

Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com