Editing The Elephant Man (1980 film) (section)

===Critical response===
On [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]], it has an approval rating of 91% based on 64 reviews, with an average score of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "David Lynch's relatively straight second feature finds an admirable synthesis of compassion and restraint in treating its subject, and features outstanding performances by John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1006527-elephant_man |title=The Elephant Man (1980) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=April 5, 2025}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 16 critic reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-elephant-man |title=The Elephant Man Reviews |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=October 28, 2020}}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] wrote: "Mr. Hurt is truly remarkable. It can't be easy to act under such a heavy mask&nbsp;... the physical production is beautiful, especially Freddie Francis' black-and-white photography."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/10/03/archives/elephant-man-study-in-genteelness.html | title='Elephant Man,' — Study in Genteelness | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | first=Vincent |last=Canby | author-link=Vincent Canby | date=October 3, 1980 | access-date=January 29, 2018}}</ref>

A small number of critics were less favourable. [[Roger Ebert]] gave it 2/4 stars, writing: "I kept asking myself what the film was really trying to say about the [[human condition]] as reflected by John Merrick, and I kept drawing blanks."<ref>{{cite web|date=1 January 1980|title=The Elephant Man|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-elephant-man-1980|access-date=September 12, 2012|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]}}</ref> In the book ''The Spectacle of Deformity: Freak Shows and Modern British Culture'', [[Nadja Durbach]] describes the work as "much more mawkish and moralising than one would expect from the leading postmodern surrealist filmmaker" and "unashamedly sentimental". She blamed this mawkishness on the use of Treves' memoirs as source material.<ref name="Durbach35" />

''The Elephant Man'' has since been ranked among the best films of the 1980s in [[Time Out (magazine)|''Time Out'']] (where it placed 19th),<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 25, 2015 |title=The 30 best '80s movies |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/movies/the-30-best-80s-movies#tab_panel_2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628194244/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/movies/the-30-best-80s-movies#tab_panel_2 |archive-date=2015-06-28 |access-date=2017-11-21 |work=Time Out New York |language=en}}</ref> [[Paste (magazine)|''Paste'']] (56th),<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 24, 2012 |title=The 80 Best Movies of the 1980s |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/best-movies/the-80-best-movies-of-the-1980s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027212816/https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/10/the-80-best-movies-of-the-1980s.html?p=3 |archive-date=2012-10-27 |access-date=2017-11-21 |work=[[Paste Magazine]] |language=en}}</ref> and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' (38th),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fear |first1=David |last2=Greene |first2=Andy |last3=Grow |first3=Kory |last4=Rife |first4=Katie |last5=Grierson |first5=Tim |last6=Daniels |first6=Robert |last7=Tobias |first7=Scott |last8=Murray |first8=Noel |last9=Lodge |first9=Guy |last10=Garrett |first10=Stephen |last11=Bailey |first11=Jason |title=The 100 Greatest Movies of the 1980s |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/100-greatest-movies-of-the-1980s-1277869/the-elephant-man-1980-1287365/ |website=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=1 February 2025 |date=2 March 2022}}</ref> and among the greatest biopics of all time.<ref>{{cite web |last1=de Semlyen |first1=Phil |last2=Singer |first2=Matthew |title=The 25 best biopics of all time – ranked |url=https://www.timeout.com/film/the-best-biopics-of-all-time-ranked |website=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] |access-date=1 February 2025 |date=5 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gaughan |first1=Liam |title=10 Biopics That Are Perfect From Start to Finish |url=https://collider.com/biopics-perfect/ |website=[[Valnet#Collider|Collider]] |access-date=1 February 2025 |date=27 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Fear |first1=David |last2=Greene |first2=Andy |last3=Grow |first3=Kory |last4=Rife |first4=Katie |last5=Grierson |first5=Tim |last6=Daniels |first6=Robert |last7=Tobias |first7=Scott |last8=Murray |first8=Noel |last9=Lodge |first9=Guy |last10=Garrett |first10=Stephen |last11=Bailey |first11=Jason |title=The 100 Greatest Movies of the 1980s |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/100-greatest-movies-of-the-1980s-1277869/the-elephant-man-1980-1287365/ |website=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=1 February 2025 |date=2 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kassel |first1=Mary |title=10 Best Biopic Movies Of All Time |url=https://screenrant.com/best-biopic-movies-ranked/ |website=[[Screen Rant]] |access-date=1 February 2025 |date=6 July 2024}}</ref> The film also received five votes in the 2012 ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' polls.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Votes for The Elephant Man (1980)|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bd1e475/sightandsoundpoll2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425043330/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bd1e475/sightandsoundpoll2012|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 25, 2017|access-date=2017-11-21|website=[[BFI]]}}</ref> The February 2020 issue of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' lists ''The Elephant Man'' as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html|magazine=[[New York Magazine]]|access-date=March 17, 2025}}</ref>