A thrilling, enthralling and intelligent cinematic re-telling of the great grandmother of celebrity scandals ... your typical Merchant Ivory/Austen adaptation it ain't ... Wilde goes much further than these conventions. For this is a brave, forthright, and sexually honest depiction of homosexuality and Victorian society's abhorrence of it ... an earnest chronicling of one man's decent into a personal hell ... Wilde is both a revenge and tragedy piece rolled into one, and is engrossing in either regard. The film's great strength, though, is Fry himself ... His superb portrayal of Wilde is at once understated and subtle, creating a dense and complex character torn by extremes of guilt, lust and regret as he brilliantly carries this literary scandal period flick through to the inevitable tear-jerking denouement. Even though you know what's going to happen - always a key problem for biopics of famous people - Fry is so engaging and sympathetic that you can't help being caught up in the tragic events portrayed ... his asymmetrical facial presence on screen is almost up to the standards of De Niro in its sheer charisma ... Wilde is both a restrained and yet, paradoxically, passionate and exciting film that cannot possibly fail to move you. Go see.
Dan Rider  - Total Film

Enchantment was found in three early Britpix here, The Winter Guest, Wilde, and The Tango Lesson ... (Stephen Fry is) an actor designed by nature to play the heavyweight dandy with the feather-fine wit ... his performance is a perfect centre for others to whirl around ... Vanessa Redgrave is sensational as Wilde's Irish mom, and Gilbert has the taste and sense to let the lush period design sit back and act as foil to the thespian folderol.
Harlan Kennedy  - Film Comment

Brian Gilbert's impressive Wilde starts just where you wouldn't expect a biopic of Oscar Wilde to ... a biopic of Oscar that may even be heading for an Oscar. Julian Mitchell's screenplay, after Richard Ellmann's great biography, is a skilful blend of Wilde's aphoristic brio and his personal turmoil ... But what elevates this movie to awards contention is the array of brilliant supporting performances, especially Jude Law's Bosie, all caddish beauty and seigniorial contempt, Tom Wilkinson as the Marquess of Queensberry, giving intelligence as well as fury to the brute, and Jennifer Ehle's enigmatic, loyal but wounded wife, Constance Wilde ... Law as "Bosie" Douglas is perfect. I cannot imagine the pouting aristocratic beauty and arrogance that were Bosie - and Wilde's downfall - caught better.
Quentin Curtis  - Daily Telegraph

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