A Late Quartet (2012)
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 105
Fresh: 83 | Rotten: 22
An outstanding ensemble cast lends weight and depth to A Late Quartet's melodramatic script, and the result is insightful and emotionally satisfying.
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Critic Reviews: 36
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 6
An outstanding ensemble cast lends weight and depth to A Late Quartet's melodramatic script, and the result is insightful and emotionally satisfying.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 6,863
My Rating
Movie Info
When the beloved cellist of a world-renowned string quartet receives a life changing diagnosis, the group's future suddenly hangs in the balance: suppressed emotions, competing egos, and uncontrollable passions threaten to derail years of friendship and collaboration. As they are about to play their 25th anniversary concert, quite possibly their last, only their intimate bond and the power of music can preserve their legacy. Inspired by and structured around Beethoven's Opus 131 String Quartet
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Robert, Robert Gelbart,... -
Christopher Walken
Peter, Peter Mitchell, ... -
Catherine Keener
Juliette, Juliette Gelb... -
Mark Ivanir
Daniel, Daniel Lerner, ... -
Imogen Poots
Alexandra, Alexandra Ge... -
Madhur Jaffrey
Dr. Nadir -
Liraz Charchi
Pilar -
Wallace Shawn
Gideon Rosen -
Anne Sofie Von Otter
Miriam Mitchell -
Pamela Quinn
Parkinson's Class Instr... -
Brooklyn Parkinson Group
Parkinson's Class Parti... -
Cristian Puig
Flamenco Guitarist -
Rebecca Tomas
Flamenco Dancer -
Megan McQuillan
Sotheby's Executive -
David Redden
Auctioneer -
Ted Hartley
Winning Bidder -
Stephen Payne
Jack -
Alyssa Lewis
Little Girl in Subway -
Attacca String Quartet
Julliard Student Quarte... -
Keiko Tokunaga
Violinist -
Luke Fleming
Violist -
Andrew Yee
Steve the Cellist -
Amy Schroeder
Julliard Classroom Stud... -
Nina Lee
Herself
ADVERTISEMENT
A Late Quartet Trailer & Photos
All Critics (109) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (83) | Rotten (22)
The result is a perfectly serviceable, well acted melodrama - but why so serious?
Top CriticThe screenplay by Seth Grossman and Israeli-American director Yaron Zilberman is old-fashioned and melodramatic but stirring in its portrait of people struggling with individual egos to produce something nobler than themselves.
[It] may not sound like a scintillatingly good time at the movies, but actually it is.
The outstanding ensemble cast keeps the story - and its accompanying emotional heft - from becoming overly baroque.
Yes, A Late Quartet is disappointing. But it's also pretty bad.
For a film that relies so heavily on the lasting power of a classical master, A Late Quartet never really converts any viewers to his church.
A classical-music ensemble rosins up the bull in a tone-deaf melodrama that loves its musical metaphors almost has much as it adores afternoon soaps.
Constantly engaging.
One might expect a film set in the high culture world of classical music to come up with a more sophisticated metaphor for the insecurities of a violinist than having him worry about always playing second fiddle in life.
A Late Quartet is visually and musically rich. But above all there are the performances, individually and as an ensemble, and they're pitch perfect.
Impressive, superior drama.
While this film has some bracingly strong observations on the nature of long-term professional and personal relationships, it also feels somewhat theatrical in the way its story develops.
It is not flawless but it makes you watch, and listen, closely throughout.
It isn't great art, but it is patterned after great art, and there are worse ways to make a film than that.
The film offers first-rate, mostly middle-aged actors in an intelligent screenplay that's decently crafted, covers interesting but unfamiliar ground and has a worthwhile central idea.
[L]ays on [its] metaphor a little too thickly, [but] all is preforgiven... by the sheer joy of getting to watch Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener, and Philip Seymour Hoffman rattle around one another...
Wants to be Bergman, ends up more like a burgundy-hued Sunset Beach.
The picture's really about the trials and joys of performing for a living so it's no surprise that it has attracted such a fine cast, nor that its principal virtue lies in the acting.
A movie with clarity and grownup complexity.
Insightful and incandescent, this is a film for both music lovers and movie lovers.
This skilfully constructed, beautifully performed drama will satisfy audiences looking for smart, intelligent filmmaking.
Engaging drama, enlivened by a trio of terrific performances from Hoffman, Keener and Walken, though the script occasionally feels a little contrived.
A pathos-laden chamber piece poignantly played by an ensemble of actors at the peak of their powers.
It's a shame that director Yaron Zilberman feels the need to raise the dramatic stakes so implausibly high, as the actors really are excellent - and the music is sublime.
It's a film dripping with Zilberman's passion for classical music and the way it touches the emotions, and because the actors feel it too, you can forgive any moments of discord.
Audience Reviews for A Late Quartet
Super Reviewer
It's the story of the labyrinthan and conflicting relationships between the members of a veteran string quartet, with loyalty, jealously, sex, and ambition pushing the envelope on everything. The catalytic event is a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, forcing the retirement of the groups cellist father figure, played by Christopher Walken.
Every performance is a gem, but Christopher Walken is a revelation, since he usually plays weird over the top surreal clowns (albeit compellingly each time). Here he plays a real man, facing death and decline with his whole heart and soul on display. P.S. Hoffman does his usual angst filled disapointment filled character with his usual skill, as his wife, Catherine Keener gets to do a more muted but well calibrated take on on her bitchy brutally honest but soulful charcter, Israeli Mark Ivanir plays the star lead violinst, a distant, arrogant but alpha male with sensitivity, I haven't seen him before in anything. English up and coming Imogene Poots plays the daughter of the couple, who enters into a sexual relationship with Ivanir (his mother's old flame) causing the group to almost flame out.
As much as I loved it, be warned the movie involves lots of talk about Beethoven and classical music that may bore some viewers (I loved it). Further, the film which feels very real most of the time, depends on French Farce like coincidences and meolodramatic over the top tropes to advance its story, which may annoy some viewers hooked up on realism. First time feature writer/director Yaron Zilberman does a wondeful job here, and I look forward to his next film.
Finally, the wonder that is Beethoven's opus 131 is the star of the show, and its melancholic, mournful yet life affirming strains are lived up and matched by this terrific chamber film.
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| movie | 2 months ago | 0 |
Latest News on A Late Quartet
November 2, 2012:
Critics Consensus: Wreck-it Ralph, Flight Are Certified FreshThis week at the movies, we've got a sensitive villain (Wreck-it Ralph, with voice work by John C....
What's Hot On RT
The Last Stand, Side Effects
Trailer for James Franco adaptation
Rachel McAdams' time travel romantic drama
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Ranking the Blockbusters with Summer Movie Scorecard 2013 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Last Stand and Side Effects 9
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Star Trek Softer Than Expected at #1 81
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 37
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 106
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
Top Headlines
-
Alex Gibney Talks We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
0
-
RED Screenwriters Returning for RED 3
0
-
Brave's Brenda Chapman Talks Merida Makeover Controversy
2
-
Gold Discovers Spike Lee
1
-
Morgan Freemand and Diane Keaton Team Up for Life Itself
0
-
The Ten O'Clock People Are Counting on Chris Evans
0
-
Marton Csokas in Talks for The Equalizer
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Saiten des Lebens (DE)
- A Late Quartet (UK)
