The Lion in Winter received mixed reviews of its 1966 Broadway debut production, and was essentially a critical and commercial failure. However, the 1968 film production of The Lion in Winter, based on a screenplay adaptation written by Goldman, was a critical and commercial success, winning Goldman an Academy Award. Since then, The Lion in Winter has been a favorite production for high schools and small community theaters. A Broadway revival of The Lion in Winter, produced in 1999, received mixed reviews.

Critical responses to The Lion in Winter throughout the history of its production on stage and screen have generally addressed similar issues. The play's critical supporters and detractors alike make note of Goldman's anachronistic use of modern American dialogue in the mouths of twelfth-century French and English characters. Many critics fault the play for this quality, asserting that Goldman's dialogue is ridiculously anachronistic, as well as sounding...