His styling was fresh, and his take on shopworn materials like cotton (for sweet denim culottes worn with a chunky, variegated cardigan) was proof of an open mind.

To continue, one could lament the lack of originality, the lack of humor, the lack of character development and the shopworn materials that suggest a lack of any serious commitment to elevate "Finnegan's Farewell" into first-rate entertainment.

In Mr. Tavernier's hands, such shopworn material becomes drolly flavorful; especially delicious are his precise rhythms, moving from exciting action sequences to more cerebral moments, where talk of intrigue and deception is as potentially deadly as swordplay.

Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, opined, "This is a splendid, rousing historical adventure, an example of what can happen when the best direction, acting, writing and technical credits are brought to bear on what might look like shopworn material."

But Mr. Daldry finds honest feeling and dramatic integrity in shopworn material, and the cast, notably Mr. Lewis as Billy's father, Ms. Walters as his teacher and young Jamie Bell as Billy, helps rescue the movie from its most hackneyed impulses (Scott).