a combined gross of $66,976,317. Critical response The Messenger received mixed to negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 32% based on reviews from 75 critics, with the consensus: "The heavy-handed narrative collapses under its own weight." At Metacritic the film holds a score of 54 based on 33 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reception. Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, stating, "The movie is a mess: a gassy costume epic with nobody at the center." Ebert stated the film may have been educational for the test audience participants who wrote, "Why does she have to die at the end?" on their evaluation cards. In a review entitled Vivid Action Can't Save Miscast 'Joan, Todd McCarthy praised the film's action scenes and technical aspects, including Thierry Arbogast's cinematography, though overall gave a negative review. He criticised the casting of Jovovich, stating the only thing she brought to the film was "her strikingly tall and skinny physicality, which is not exactly how one has been led to picture [Joan]". Ron Wells from Film Threat, however, gave the film four out of five stars. Also praising the action scenes, Wells stated that the film's main strength was its "adult ambiguities and relationships"; its decision not to portray Joan as a "super-hero", but rather to let the audience decide whether she was a prophet or merely bipolar, concluding, "This film, as most things that involve religion, is better understood if you learn not to take everything so literally." Accolades The Messenger was nominated for eight awards at the 25th César Awards of which it won two: one for Costume Design and one for Best Sound. The film also won two Lumières Award for Best Director and Best Film. It was nominated for 'Most Original' trailer at the 1999 Golden Trailer Awards, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design at the 1999 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards, and won the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing. Conversely, Milla Jovovich's performance was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. Home media The Messenger was released on DVD on 4 April 2000. The DVD version presented the film in its original 2.35:1 format, and contained several minutes of footage that did not appear in the US theatrical version. It featured English subtitles, interactive menus, 'talent files', a 2-page production booklet, a 24-minute HBO First