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The Sheltering Sky (1990)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.4/10
Reviews Counted: 24
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 12

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 5.2/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 4

No consensus yet.

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 5,190

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Movie Info

From director Bernardo Bertolucci, The Sheltering Sky is a filmed adaptation of the novel of the same name by Paul Bowles. Debra Winger and John Malkovich star as Kit and Port Moresby, a married American couple who globetrot to North Africa in the late '40s with the hopes of re-sparking their love and adding some zest to their lackluster lives. Along for the ride is the pair's friend George Tunner (Campbell Scott), who soon begins having an affair with Kit. As they struggle through the numbing

R, 2 hr. 19 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure

Directed By: Bernardo Bertolucci

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1990 Wide

On DVD: May 14, 2002

Warner Home Video

The Sheltering Sky Trailer & Photos

Cast

John Malkovich
Port Moresby
Debra Winger
Kit Morseby
Campbell Scott
Tunner
Jill Bennett II
Mrs. Lyle
Timothy Spall
Eric Lyle
Eric Vu-An
Belqassim
Nicoletta Braschi
French Woman
Sotigui Kouyat�
Abdelkader
Veronica Lazar
Nun
Philippe Morier-Genoud
Captain Broussard
Tom Novembre
French Immigration Offi...
Kamel Cherif
Ticket Seller
Amina Annabi
Mahrnia
Juliet Taylor
Paul Bowles
Narrator
Jill Bennett I

Critic Reviews for The Sheltering Sky

All Critics (24) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (13) | DVD (6)

A disappointingly reductive adaptation of Paul Bowles's first novel.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Those who haven't read the book will be left bewildered.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

A long, beautifully modulated cry of despair.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

The book is so complete, so deep and so self-contained that it shuts the movie out. Bertolucci shows us the outsides and the surfaces, and a person seeing this movie without having read the book might ask what it is about.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Bowles's gentle, avian features, the obvious wisdom of his years and his distinctive presence are practically worth the price of admission.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Top Critic

[A] frustrating, monotonously obscure movie.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Hal Hinson

Washington Post

Top Critic

Filled with stunning visuals.

March 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Disappointing.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

Brimming with obscure meaning and devoid of drive and fervor, the film dries up in that symbolic desert sun, the victim of its own pretensions and a casualty of trying to film something best suited to the realm of cult literature.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

As you'd expect, it's a big, handsome film, rich and strange in psychological depths and eroticism. Malkovich and Winger play woundingly well.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Time Out

Bertolucci's grand desert epic gets stuck in the sand right at the start.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

| Comment

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

(No quote available.)

January 30, 2004 Comment

Daniel M. Kimmel

Worcester Telegram & Gazette Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Soul searching is rarely a thrill a minute but it's rarely as tedious as this. ...Oscar-bait it may be, but "The Sheltering Sky" is more deserving of the First Annual Chicken Little Award.

August 5, 2003 Full Review Source: James Sanford on Film

| Comment

James Sanford

James Sanford on Film

One of those movies where you know they're trying to say something important, but it's just not coming across.

September 24, 2002 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide

| Comment

Brian Webster

Apollo Guide

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Sheltering Sky

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The worst!!! When its finally over you find yourself asking, how can so many talented people make something this pretentious and odious.

April 2, 2008

jay nixon

Super Reviewer

I would feel like I was overlooking some considerable flaws if I called this movie perfect, but I am perfectly okay with saying that I loved it. Bertolucci's direction is as powerful as ever, controlling tone and atmosphere with the precision we expect from him. This is among his most visually beautiful work, with

August 10, 2007