Awash in heart-rending emotions and gorgeous images, this is a movie to lose yourself in.
100
Film.comSean Means
Film.comSean Means
It feels like a dream that a movie could have this kind of poetic grace and epic sweep, or could be so faithful to its source and still work so perfectly as a film.
Rising to crescendos of emotion usually reached only by tenors and sopranos, these characters are the beneficiaries of the luminous writing of the novel and screenplay as well as the expert performances of the actors, especially Scott Thomas.
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
A mesmerizing film that is the most stunning, tempestuous love story in a decade or two of movie making.
90
Mr. ShowbizF. X. Feeney
Mr. ShowbizF. X. Feeney
Astonishingly deep and moving.
88
USA TodayMike Clark
USA TodayMike Clark
The big story here is Kristin Scott Thomas' captivating performance.
80
Film.comTom Keogh
Film.comTom Keogh
The look, the feel, the brood-y, brilliant cast: This is an oddly affecting movie, all right, a jellyroll of Bronte and Hemingway.
80
Film.comRobert Horton
Film.comRobert Horton
It's got both the sweeping spectacle and the keen, tactile sense of human intimacy.
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The two films bursting out of The English Patient (a chamber piece and a David Lean dune epic) require a juggling of tone, pace and scale that might easily defeat a director more seasoned than Minghella.
50
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The English Patient is excitingly promising. Then the screenplay goes rotten, like an overripe melon. [Dec. 9, 1996]