45
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe strength of the screenplay and acting provide a satisfying, although not overwhelming, two hours of romance, drama, and tragedy.
- 75Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe film, like the book, is clear-eyed without being clinical, reflective but never maudlin.
- 63Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversSusan Minot’s resplendent novel of a dying woman…stumbles on its way to the screen.
- 60VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangIndividual moments are not without their felicitous touches -- mainly due to the cast, which is rich to the point of improbability.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttWhat a cast but what a disappointment.
- 50New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe film is based on a novel by Susan Minot--one of those books where the author doesn't deign to put dialogue in quotation marks for fear of dispelling the dreamlike mood. It works on paper, but Minot, who shares credit for the adaptation with fellow novelist Michael Cunningham, doesn't understand that screenwriting is the art of taking away.
- 50The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyThis is one of the rare movies that are too sensitive for their own good.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceParked uneasily between sensitive indie and studio chick-flick, Lajos Koltai's Evening makes star-studded hash of Susan Minot's beautifully written, if emotionally constricted, novel.
- 50SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirEvening feels like one of those devil's-candy productions that aim to bring artistry to a large audience, specifically a large audience of adult women who don't often go to the movies. Even considering it in that light, I found it miscalculated and overcooked.
- 50Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerThe performances, especially by Hugh Dancy as a sexually confused rich kid, are overwrought, and the script, which Michael Cunningham ("The Hours") wrote in collaboration with Minot, is slack.