All Critics (113)
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Top Critics (26)
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Fresh (79)
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Rotten (33)
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DVD (15)
Hallstrom's film could have used more dramatic muscle but is nonetheless a touching, old-fashioned charmer that ultimately satisfies.
Mr. Irving remains a disturbingly facile spinner of yarns in which the most sordid facts of life are glossed over into comfortably didactic homilies about the innate goodness of people. Yet, I was somehow moved...
[It] is a fable that turns into a 1940s New England variation on Charles Dickens. It is also one dickens of an American movie.
A voluptuous page-turner of a movie.
A deliberately old-fashioned picture that succeeds in nearly everything it tries to do.
Thought-provoking movie for teens and up.
Irving's clean, economical dialogue and Hallstrom's beautifully morose direction cut the fat off of the cliches.
A bouillabaisse of all the best soap opera elements - orphans, abortion, debilitating injuries and, of course, death.
A softer, kinder version of John Irving's book, which was edgier and more critical, though you can't blame the filmmakers since Irving himself adapted his novel.
Hallström's humanism is possibly a little low key and romantic given such tough themes as abortion and incest.
There's quality here and that's a real good thing.
Not since The World According to Garp has a movie based on a John Irving novel captured the wry realism of the author's work.
Just as tepid and surface-level as Simon Birch was.
It blends romance with the love of children, the warmth of family with the darker side of human nature, and the all-encompassing belief that everything has a purpose.
What the film is really about are CHOICES: the need to make them, how they affect others, and actively dealing with the repercussions of your actions.
What's bizarre about the movie is how it grafts greeting-card schmaltz on to a muckraking liberal agenda.
It is worth mentioning that this movie looks like a million bucks; cinematographer Oliver Stapleton drenches the scenery in rich, antique tones that add luster to the story's poignant emotion.
It doesn't break anything, but it doesn't have to. I smiled a lot, sometimes had misty eyes and never lost interest.
Presents a fresh and forceful salute to the spiritual practice of self-esteem.
an extremely pretty movie to look at and listen to, but although Irving's basic plot remains, the richness of his prose hasn't truly transferred to the screen.
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