Review Roundup: KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN Film Starring Jennifer Lopez Now in Theaters

The new film version of the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman is officially in theaters. Starring Jennifer Lopez, this new adaptation is written and directed by Bill Condon. The cast also includes Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, Jennifer Lopez, Bruno Bichir, Josefina Scaglione, and Aline Mayagoitia.

Winner of seven 1993 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, based on the novel by Manuel Puig, explores the complex relationship between two men caged together in a Latin American prison for very different reasons. The musical has a book by Terrence McNally, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb.

Valentín, a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina, a window dresser convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver-screen diva, Ingrid Luna.

Find out what the critics are saying in the reviews below!

Pete Hammond, Deadline: It’s nice to report that the stunning new film adaptation of their 1993 Tony-winning musical Kiss of the Spider Woman joins Cabaret and Chicago as a master class in how to find the cinematic soul of a Broadway musical while still doing it justice on screen 30 years later — and in a very different time culturally.

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter: Those scenes give Jennifer Lopez one of the best roles of her career as Luna, putting her singing and dancing bona fides to excellent use. She looks sensational in Colleen Atwood’s stunning costumes, and the verve she brings to her songs lifts the entire movie. It’s a part that calls for a larger-than-life presence, and Lopez supplies it.

Peter DeBruge, Variety: Each time “Kiss” cuts away from the cold gray walls of the cell, it calls for a star who can vamp her way through 1960s-style song-and-dance numbers, the way Chita Rivera did onstage. Here we get no less a diva than Lopez smoldering in a three-pronged role (Ingrid Luna, Aurora and the Spider Woman), which should draw crowds who might not otherwise have a taste for musicals. And yet, it’s relative newcomer Tonatiuh who walks away with the show, finding both strength and vulnerability in a character who seems less frivolous with each passing scene.

Fionnuala Halligan, Screen Daily: The cast is sincere and committed, from newcomer Tonatiuh in the Hurt role, to Diego Luna (for Raoul Julia) and Jennifer Lopez (in a version of the part once played by Sonia Braga, and, on stage, by Chita Rivera). It’s disappointing that what they are peddling has become so distorted. Spangly song-and-dance numbers punctuate — irregularly – grisly prison scenes and a tortured gay love story which now must accommodate more modern gender thinking. The effort is strenuous; all 128 minutes of it. But it’s almost as exhausting to watch as it must have been to make.

Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire: But what’s a star-making performance when the package surrounding the actor is otherwise so ordinary and un-cosmic? Lopez, while impressive as a vamping, dreamed-up screen star in the silhouette of Rita Hayworth or any other pin-up you’d too have plastered on the walls of your prison cell if you were a gay Hollywood-movie obsessive, doesn’t get the chance to do anything risky or vulnerable. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is a flashy ode to the fairies and the radicals, the maricóns who’ve repurposed their oppression and media literacy into an outsize, fuck-if-I-care-what-you-think political identity. Yet there’s nothing revolutionary about the movie that contains them.

Brian Truit, USA Today: "It’s that showstopping aspect of “Spider Woman,” however, that lacks the right razzle-dazzle compared to the more thoughtful prison scenes. Sure, there's a definite shift of styles between the grim, cramped jail cell and a lavish Hollywood musical, but the latter seems almost subdued. Those musical numbers scream for a more extreme contrast, with more pop and sizzle than they're given, to make sense as the escape Molina desperately needs. That said, at least Lopez does her part and seems to be enjoying herself harnessing a little camp as the Spider Woman, with a webby gown, sultry looks and a signature melody that you can’t get out of your head for a week."

Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle: "With long blond hair parted down the middle for the role of Ingrid, Lopez resembles Madonna. This seems fitting since both stars have sought world domination as triple threats — singing, acting, dancing — in their careers. But the similarities only go so far. Whereas Madonna has not inflicted her acting on the public in years, Lopez still insists on singing. Her voice sounds fine on heavily produced dance tracks, but there is no obscuring its thinness here."

Benjamin Lee, The Guardian: "The rockiness can drag some of the film’s two hour-plus runtime (which still, to the upcoming fury of superfans, removes many much-loved songs), but there’s something fascinating about the unusual, overstuffed, indefinable mess of it all, especially when compared with last year’s flat and colourless Wicked. A wider audience might not know what to make of it, but Lopez is undeniable."

Siddhant Adlakha, Mashable: "In contrast, any hint of romance in the new Kiss of the Spider Woman is dulled and distant, and its sense of optimism has few ugly depths that allow it to stand out through greater contrast. Forty years after Babenco’s film, Condon’s musical may be more palatable and progressive, but his versions of Molina and Arregui never feel like halves of a whole, leaving the movie feeling emotionally incomplete."

Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press: "Oscar-nominated for writing the screenplay for “Chicago” (which he didn’t direct, Rob Marshall did), Condon directs his musical sequences more simply — allowing the dancing to shine. And it is fun to watch, a bit of frivolity and escapism. But you’re always eager to get back to the cell for more Tonatiuh. Molina’s main stage might be a dull, claustrophobic prison cell, but Tonatiuh’s performance is vibrant technicolor."

Aisha Harris, NPR: "The result is an impressive balancing act between the exuberant Technicolor fantasy of classic movie musicals and the weary reality of Argentina's oppressive military dictatorship during the late 20th century, and with an evolved perspective on gender and sexuality. On paper, it probably sounds like an incongruent didactic drag; in practice it's a poignant and immersive contribution to the novel's legacy."

Elisabeth Vincentelli, The New York Times: "Some numbers feel like direct shout-outs to the “Girl Hunt” ballet from “The Band Wagon” and “Broadway Melody” from “Singin’ in the Rain,” with Lopez swanning through the flamboyantly artificial sets. For the most part, though, the X factor of elegance, sensuality and verve that made MGM musicals so memorable is missing here. You want to give an encouraging grade for effort, but effort is also the last thing you want to see in a musical."