Rex Reed’s Negative ‘The Shape of Water’ Review Goes Viral After Crediting Benicio del Toro as Director
Zack Sharf
Rex Reed has been reviewing movies in major publications for several decades now, including the New York Daily News, GQ, Vogue, The New York Times, and more, but his negative review of “The Shape of Water” might just go down as his most infamous to date. The review was published on the Observer website on December 19, but it got the real director Guillermo del Toro confused with actor Benicio Del Toro, who can currently be seen in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
Social media quickly targeted the review for the error. Reed did not even spell Benicio del Toro’s name correctly, nor did he even credit co-writer Vanessa Taylor for the film’s screenplay. Reed also referred to Benicio as being from Spain. Benicio is from Puerto Rico, while Guillermo del Toro hails from Mexico. Even worse, the critic wrote that Sally Hawkins’ mute protagonist is “mentally handicapped.”
so rex reed’s review of @shapeofwater calls sally hawkins’ mute chacter elisa “mentally handicapped”, credits benecio del toro (who has nothing to do with the film) as dir/writer instead of guillermo del toro and doesn’t even bother crediting vanessa taylor, the co-writer pic.twitter.com/OSMaSJsSna
— dilara (@marioncotilards) December 20, 2017
Wherein Rex Reed calls Guillermo del Toro Benecio del Toro, refers to him as being from Spain, and calls the mute lead character mentally handicapped. Dumbfuckery at its finest. https://t.co/3PQ5eI6zCo
— Ted Geoghegan (@tedgeoghegan) December 20, 2017
Observer quickly deleted the tweet to the review and edited the mistakes. Guillermo del Toro weighed in on Twitter, writing, “What an honor it would be to get a bad review from Rex Reed. Alas Benecio (sic) can enjoy it for now…Oh, and, apparently, Benecio (sic) is from Spain. Which, obviously, I am not.”
Oh, and, apparently, Benecio (sic) is from Spain.Which, obviously, I am not.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) December 20, 2017
Fortunately, Guillermo del Toro doesn’t need to get caught up on one bad review for “The Shape of Water.” The movie has been largely acclaimed by film critics and it even placed in the Top 10 on IndieWire’s 2018 critics poll. “The Shape of Water” is also nominated for seven Golden Globes, more than any other motion picture this year, including Best Picture Drama and Best Director. To the surprise of no one, Reed’s mistake quickly went viral.
When you think Guillermo del Toro is Benicio Del Toro and you also can’t even spell the incorrect name correctly. pic.twitter.com/DjlEDLIMMP
— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) December 20, 2017
he even misspells “Benicio” while mistaking benicio del toro for guillermo. he’s a long-established critic, and i can only assume this review wasn’t edited: https://t.co/8hcRtu6Ahh
— Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@Hello_Tailor) December 20, 2017
like think about how many young, talented film critics are out here with new perspectives and who know the difference between, say, guillermo del toro and, i don’t know, benicio del toro and who don’t also misspell the name that was wrong to begin with, like, just as an example
— mi burrito sabanero (dj laz remix) (@soalexgoes) December 20, 2017
Rex Reed misspelling “Benicio del Toro” while mistakenly giving him credit for Guillermo del Toro’s film elevates this fuckup to the realm of conceptual art
— Charles Bramesco (@intothecrevasse) December 20, 2017
