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Is Anybody There?

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Peter Harness
Directed by: John Crowley
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 17, 2009
DVD: November 17, 2009
Running Time: 95 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for language including sexual references, and some disturbing images
Starring Michael Caine, Bill Milner, Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey, and Leslie Phillips
Christmas 1987 marks the one-year anniversary of Lark Hall’s opening for business as an old age home in an English seaside town. But ten-year-old Edward isn’t much in the mood to celebrate. He has had to give up his room; and his Mum and Dad don’t have as much time for him as they used to, overwhelmed as they are with the day-to-day management of the home and the struggle to stave off financial ruin. On the other hand, living in an old folks’ home offers a curious, clever child like Edward the chance to explore what, exactly, comes after death. And went a retired magician moves into the home, Edward shows him to believe in magic again. (Big Beach)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Boy A Intermission
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
It is also hard not to see remnants of a younger Michael Caine -- beautifully seductive and enigmatic all those years ago in "Alfie." He has said his wife cried when she saw the performance; you understand why.
Read Full Review >Empire Philip Wilding
Caine leads an impeccable cast in a story that is as touching as it is funny, turning the mundane minutiae of fading lives into a vibrant display.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
The sentimentality is held in check by Caine, who rises to the occasion with a bleak, angry performance.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
A kid-meets-curmudgeon comedy that transcends its formulaic skeleton thanks both to the veteran actor's charm and a smarter-than-average screenplay.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Blending humor and heartbreak in a performance that makes a small movie a richly satisfying one, Caine truly is magic.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
While Caine and young Milner make for amusing adversaries, it's nice to see Crowley paying respect to his elders by populating the retirement home with a number of familiar faces, including those belonging to Rosemary Harris, Sylvia Syms and longtime "Coronation Street" resident Thelma Barlow.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
All-too-familiar and schmaltzy territory for both coming-of-age films and movies with elderly actors.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
I can't really recommend the film, unless you admire Caine as much as I do, which is certainly possible.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
You don't need a Ouija board to suss out where all this is heading, but Is Anybody There? counteracts its deficiencies -- predictability, sentimentality -- with a healthy dose of dark humor.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
More deft than it first appears, director John Crowley's gentle-but-not-sappy drama features another late-day masterpiece-in-miniature from Michael Caine.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Philip Kennicott
Caine is magnificent, and the film is worth a look for his contribution alone. But Milner is a promising actor, too, and the pairing of young and old is believable and occasionally very moving.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego
Requires us to repress any thoughts about stale material and keep Caine's heartfelt performance front and center.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Writer Peter Harness has based his screenplay on his own childhood experiences, but personal doesn't necessarily translate to fresh.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
The script is always shakier than the performers trying to bring it across, and by the third act, it lets them down completely.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
What balances the movie is Mr. Caine's exceptional portrayal of old age as the accumulation of a lifetime's experience. In his performance the child, the youthful rogue and the forgetful codger all live at once.
Read Full Review >NPR Bob Mondello
All of this is at once predictable and implausible -- a two-hander of a story so overplotted and overpopulated that by the time it's winding up, the question isn't so much Is Anybody There? as it is, "Why on earth are so many bodies here?"
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
No one could save Is Anybody There? from its treacly self and Michael Caine doesn't, but he gives it a grand try.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
On the whole, there are precious few life lessons in Is Anybody There? that haven't been noted before.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Nicolas Rapold
Even Crowley, who seems to have a knack with overloaded material, can't quite bring the thing in for a safe landing in all the slush.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
dan m gave it a9:
Although this movie has some cliches, it also has some fine acting and an uplifting underlying spirit . The bittersweet ending is especially well done. This is Caine's movie and it shows his magnificent range.
Tassia B gave it a10:
This movie is the whole package. Go for the gallow's humor, stay for the emotional payoff. You won't regret it!
