Good, but not quite a masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2015)

At its core, Milos Forman's multi-award winning adaptation of Peter Shaffer's play 'Amadeus' is really just a soap opera with extremely lush production values.
F. Murray Abraham is captivating in his Golden Globe and Oscar winning role of a man driven mad by jealousy. Relating the tale to the audience via a young priest, it creates an intimacy that helps to pull the audience in. Tom Hulce feels a bit too "I want my MTV" era contemporary as Mozart, but he brings a giddy energy to the role that works as a great counterbalance to Abraham.
In the end 'Amadeus' isn't good history, but it is a good soapy tragicomedy.