Do you want to see ‘Elsa y Fred’?

Elsa y Fred (2005)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.4/10
Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 14

Boosted by charming performances by the octogenarian leads, Elsa and Fred overcomes its schmaltzy premise to make for a satisfying romantic tale.

Average Rating: 4.9/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 6

Boosted by charming performances by the octogenarian leads, Elsa and Fred overcomes its schmaltzy premise to make for a satisfying romantic tale.

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Average Rating: 4.4/5
User Ratings: 5,162

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Movie Info

Two aging Spanish widowers find their fading passion for romance unexpectedly rekindled during a visit to Rome's Trevi Fountain in this romantic comedy starring China Zorrilla and Manuel Alexandre. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

PG, 1 hr. 46 min.

Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy

Directed By: Marcos Carnevale

Written By: Marcos Carnevale, Marcela Guerty

In Theaters: Jun 27, 2008 Limited

On DVD: Jul 5, 2006

Mitropoulos Films

Elsa y Fred Trailer & Photos

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Cast

Critic Reviews for Elsa y Fred

All Critics (32) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (15) | DVD (2)

This starts to get interesting in the homestretch, as the woman's chronic deception begins to catch up with her, but for the most part it's an extended Geritol commercial.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Elsa & Fred feels not substantial enough to bear the weight of its themes. It dissolves like cotton candy, making proper digestion impossible.

July 31, 2008 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Dan Zak

Washington Post

Top Critic

For some, the movie will be an emotional paean to love at the twilight of life; to others, though, it's a contrived, manipulative film calculatedly sentimental and -- except for poor Alfredo -- totally false to life.

July 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic

| Comment

Richard Nilsen

Arizona Republic

Top Critic

Elsa & Fred is worth seeing just to admire how Argentine writer-director Marcos Carnevale avoids so much as a whiff of condescension.

July 18, 2008 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

A sweet but inconsequential romantic comedy.

July 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment (1)

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Love is said to be blind, but this sweet Spanish romance suggests it may also be ageless.

July 1, 2008 Full Review Source: NPR.org

| Comment

Bob Mondello

NPR.org

Top Critic

Loads of erotic chemistry between these two Madrid geriatric lovebirds without the least benefit of raging hormones, a septuagenarian object of desire longing for a male with interesting vices, and screen dreams sexing it up, La Dolce Vita style.

January 19, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze

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Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

This transparent attempt to tug on the heartstrings doesn't work.

January 16, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze

| Comment

Kam Williams

NewsBlaze

Director Marcos Carnevale makes sure to get his ticket punched at every station in this journey through cinematic convention.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Playback:stl

| Comment

Sarah Boslaugh

Playback:stl

In the end, only the veteran actors playing Elsa and Fred make the movie watchable.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Seattle Times

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John Hartl

Seattle Times

Who would have guessed that, in this age of excess and one-upmanship, when bigger is always better, the year's most romantic screen kiss would last a mere two seconds.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

| Comment

Bill White

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The dream fulfillment seems more silly than romantic, and it brings the movie to an abrupt end that is wholly unsatisfying.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle

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Steve Davis

Austin Chronicle

When one thinks of on-screen chemistry, rarely, if ever, do you think of characters in their seventies.

July 22, 2008 Full Review | Comment

Jeanne Kaplan

Kaplan vs. Kaplan

This little gem will have the mature moviegoer completely under its spell.

July 22, 2008 Full Review | Comment

David Kaplan

Kaplan vs. Kaplan

Elsa is obsessed with the "Fontana di Trevi" sequence from La Dolce Vita, but that's only a reminder that the aging Fellini once accomplished far more effective films about old age and second chances.

July 17, 2008 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

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Audience Reviews for Elsa y Fred

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Absolutely charming, lovely little film that is sweet, funny, and a little bit sad. A little slow paced, but not at all boring. These two elderly people were quite enjoyable to watch. Plenty of laugh out loud chuckles...and definitely many, many smiles....

September 20, 2011

Cynthia S.

Super Reviewer

Very good movie I know everyone excepts kids maybe would like to see and enjoy. Aging widowers Elsa and Fred visit the Trevi Fountain in Rome, the landmark from Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", and the experience rekindles their passion for love.

August 1, 2008

Manu Gino

Super Reviewer

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