Quartet Reviews
Movies With Butter
A quick and charming story of late life revival so surprisingly lithe you'd hardly believe it was a directorial debut.
Mark Leeper's Reviews
Dustin Hoffman, directing a film for the first time, gives us a film as comfortable as an old stuffed chair.
Full Review
| Original Score: 7/10
Film Threat
The point isn't that Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut suffers in comparison with other films about old age, such as Amour. The point is that it's so spectacularly silly and sentimental, it simply suffers in comparison with other films.
Tri-City Herald
After Quartet, actor/director Dustin Hoffman should never direct again. Perfection like this cannot be repeated, and from here, everything is downhill.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
As the film's characters are reaching the end of their lives, loose ends will be tied and soul searching will be done. Hoffman gracefully orchestrates the story's emotional arc. Quartet is a lovely late-career surprise from a master actor.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Top CriticThe first thing to note is that Hoffman has apparently had a grand time working with these professionals, all of whom as residents of the home are splendid.
Shockya.com
Unfolds with a respectable, well-heeled polish, seeming to believe that its admittedly wonderful cast lends it an automatic sophistication which inoculates it against charges of tedium.
Full Review
| Original Score: C-
KC Active
At 75, Dustin Hoffman makes his directorial debut with 'Quartet' and demonstrates some real promise if the acting thing doesn't work out.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Times-Picayune
Though sweet of demeanor, Dustin Hoffman's directoral debut is purely lightweight stuff, built around a flimsy plot and obvious choices every step of the way.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Quartet" asks the musical question, "Is there such a thing as too much Maggie Smith?" and answers it with a resounding "No."
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
MediaMikes
The film is quiet and personal, as are others based on Harwood's work ("The Dresser," "Taking Sides") and that trait is enforced by Hoffman's straightforward and unforced direction.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
RedEye
Unlike the devastating portrait of aging in Michael Haneke's Amour, Quartet favors cheeky over honest.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Video-Reviewmaster.com
While 'Quartet' seems to be part of a double feature with 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,' it does lack 'Exotic's' breadth of characterizations and humor.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
Creative Loafing
Of course, let's take care not to oversell this piece, which is the sort of genteel art-house offering that will thrill older audiences but seems unlikely to break out with those who don't know Downton Abbey from Howards End.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Austin Chronicle
Charming, funny, and sentimental, the film is exactly what you expect it to be, but very satisfying in achieving that goal.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
'Quartet' is one of the best movies you'll ever see about old age and while it does wind up as a celebration of life it doesn't flinch when dealing with some of the unpleasant realities of growing older.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
"Quartet" is one of those movies that looks so effortless, it's easy to forget just how much could have gone wrong.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Coasts on the charm of its performers, the gloss of the visuals (the cinematography by John de Borman keeps us alert to Hedsor House's loveliness) and the genteel fantasy of its oh-so-civilized setting.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
'Quartet" is a lovely little charm bracelet of a film, a fairy tale for the geriatric set blessed with a wonderful cast and a carry-on attitude.
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
