A Single Man (2009)

All Critics (177) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (154) | Rotten (26) | DVD (5)

Firth's portrayal of a man repressing his grief while being unable to repress his instinct for love and for life is excellent and moving, while Ford's balancing of depth and surface is precarious but ultimately winning.

February 16, 2010 Full Review

Dave Calhoun

Time Out

Top Critic

Ford's eye for period detail is exact; brief cutaways, incisive dialogue, and charged glances telegraph the cold-war paranoia and sexual alienation of the early 60s.

January 15, 2010 Full Review | Comment (1)

Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

A Single Man still stands as a vivid portrait of life behind a veil, and Firth certainly delivers one of the best performances of the year.

January 15, 2010 Full Review

Tom Long

Detroit News

Top Critic

His first time out, Ford has made one of the best films of the year.

January 13, 2010 Full Review

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

In this beautifully tailored drama, content and style have as vital a relationship as George and Jim did. The one would be lost without the other.

December 28, 2009 Full Review

Lisa Kennedy

Denver Post

Top Critic

One of the year's more satisfying films.

December 26, 2009 Full Review

Bill Goodykoontz

Arizona Republic

Top Critic

What keeps the film anchored is the growing unease that Firth exudes in quiet, crushing waves. He's always at his best, single-handed.

July 14, 2011 Full Review

Stella Papamichael

Digital Spy

...offers a raw view of the gay experience that has nothing to do with sex.

December 3, 2010 Full Review

Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man is unspeakably gorgeous to behold. From the glorious cinematography to the impossibly beautiful actors and actresses; no frame is wasted on anything even close to ugliness.

October 21, 2010 Full Review

Simon Miraudo

Quickflix

El diseñador Tom Ford debuta como director de cine con el retrato íntimo e introspectivo de un personaje en crisis existencial. Una película sensible y madura, si bien peca de cierto exceso de esteticismo.

October 9, 2010 Full Review

Enrique Buchichio

Uruguay Total

Director Tom Ford intends this film to be a celebration of life, but it misses the mark. The balance of this sorrow-laden film is too heavily weighted towards the depression side of the scales for that. Great performance by Firth, though.

September 4, 2010 Full Review

Robert Roten

Laramie Movie Scope

Tom Ford's feature directorial debut, A Single Man, is a bold first step, both visually ambitious and unapologetic about its point-of-view.

July 18, 2010 Full Review

Jeffrey Chen

ReelTalk Movie Reviews

A patient and never less than gripping character study that serves as a reminder of the emotional intimacy achievable on film. [Blu-ray]

July 8, 2010 Full Review

Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews

Before, A Single Man was only notable for Colin Firth's great performance. Now, on DVD, it's also worthwhile for Tom Ford's baby's-first-movie commentary track.

July 7, 2010 Full Review

Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

A highly impressive filmmaking debut by former Gucci designer Tom Ford.

July 6, 2010 Full Review

Garth Franklin

Dark Horizons

The singular sensation of A Single Man is Colin Firth.

July 6, 2010 Full Review

Clint O'Connor

Cleveland Plain Dealer

[Firth] the sturdiest reason for seeing this movie. He'll move you unless you're made of rock.

July 6, 2010 Full Review

Dave White

Movies.com

There's not much to this film, other than watching Firth act, and that's not enough to justify the price of admission.

July 6, 2010 Full Review | Comments (3)

Tony Medley

tonymedley.com

One of the best gay-themed films in recent years...suitably dramatic but also enormously stylish and disarmingly funny.

July 6, 2010 Full Review

Fr. Chris Carpenter

Movie Dearest

Not only is the film meticulously designed, choreographed, and costumed, but everything is photographed (by young Spanish cinematographer Eduard Grau) with an eye towards conveying story and meaning via well-thought-out use of color.

July 4, 2010 Full Review | Comment (1)

Ian Buckwalter

DCist

Be it colour, composition or movement %u2013 Ford seems to have a natural ability to use the camera to create a vivid but tasteful milieu that works as both an eye-catching palette and an expressive representation of grief.

May 13, 2010 Full Review

Andreas Heinemann

Flicks.co.nz

There is no question that A Single Man is an exquisite film and an enviable filmmaking debut.

April 14, 2010 Full Review

Alice Tynan

Concrete Playground

The movie is very much like the character -- reserved but rich in detail.

March 12, 2010 Full Review

Sean Means

Salt Lake Tribune

• 1. Kenny: I just wanted to see you some place other than school.
  2. George Falconer: Why?
  3. Kenny: Sometimes I think I'm crazy cos I see things so differently to everyone else. I feel like I can talk to you. To honest ,sir,I was also worried about you today.
  4. George Falconer: Me? What's there to worry about? I'm fine...I'm ...I'm fine...
  – Submitted by Milena K (5 months ago)
• 1. George Falconer: You know, the only thing that's made the whole thing worthwhile has been those few times when I've been able to really, truly connect with another human being.
  – Submitted by Milena K (5 months ago)
• 1. George Falconer: Looking in the mirror staring back at me isn't so much a face as the expression of a predicament.
  – Submitted by Antonia W (13 months ago)
• 1. George Falconer: A few times in my life I've had moments of absolute clarity, when for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think, and things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be.
  – Submitted by Rudy L (21 months ago)
• 1. Carlos: Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty.
  – Submitted by Tammy H (22 months ago)

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