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Will Smith: Have Emancipation reviews been influenced by the slap? - BBC
Dec 01, 2022 1 min, 34 secs
Will Smith's first film since he slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars has received a broadly warm response from critics.

But many reviews of Emancipation also focused on the wider narrative surrounding Smith - and whether the film could provide a path to his redemption in Hollywood.

The film, which was shot before this year's Oscars took place, has attracted several four-star reviews - although a few critics graded it as low as two stars.

Industry figures are waiting with interest to see how the public will react to the film, after Smith was disgraced for smacking Rock on stage during March's Academy Awards.

The slap was referenced in the headline of a four-star review of Emancipation written by The Telegraph's Robbie Collin, who said: "This tough, tense chase thriller could prove Will Smith's redemption.

"Will Smith's new film was shot in the summer of 2021, long before The Slap was so much as a tingle in his palm," Collin noted.

But other critics did reference the moment in March when Smith hit Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife Jada.

In a separate interview with CinemaBlend about Emancipation, Smith said: "The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don't penalise my team.".

The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey awarded the film two stars, dedicating her whole opening paragraph to the slap and the events that followed it?

"The film is primarily a film concerned with individual heroism to a near-mythic extent (see: the alligator wrestling)?

"The film is, undeniably, singular and sometimes overly simplistic in its approach," he said

Has the slap affected reviews of Will Smith's new film

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