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Judy Berlin

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Judy Berlin reviews
74
8.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 2 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Eric Mendelsohn

Directed by: Eric Mendelsohn

Release Date:
Theatrical: February 25, 2000
DVD: September 4, 2001

Running Time: 93 minutes, B/W

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not rated

Starring Barbara Barrie, Bob Dishy, Edie Falco, Aaron Harnick, Madeline Kahn, Julie Kavner, and Anne Meara

When the small suburban town of Babylon, Long Island, in engulfed in the darkness of a strange solar eclipse, two former classmates (Harnick and Falco) pass the day reminiscing. (Shooting Gallery)

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...

100

Boston Globe Jay Carr

It isn't often that lives of quiet desperation are served up with such pearly restraint.

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100

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Some movies are too good to miss. Judy Berlin is one of them...It works like magic.

100

USA Today Mike Clark

Tightly constructed and controlled.

91

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Haunting and hopeful.

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90

Salon.com Charles Taylor

An almost perfectly realized poetic vision of people who continue in their everyday existence certain that life in a larger sense has passed them by.

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90

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

Where "American Beauty" was smug and obvious in its dissection of suburban life, Judy Berlin is hilarious, heartbreaking and -- in its graciousness -- unlike any American film we've seen in a long time.

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90

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

A comedy of the most delicately balanced perfection.

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88

Chicago Tribune John Petrakis

Beautiful little film.

85

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Captures the emptiness of small-time lives as evocatively as Peter Bogdonavich's "Last Picture Show."

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80

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Philosophy imbues this inescapably self-reflexive movie with a rare compassion.

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80

Film.com Graham Fuller

Etched with sensitivity and wit, above all with an unpatronizing compassion for ordinary people going about their business on an extraordinary day.

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80

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Something to get excited about.

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80

Film.com Henry Cabot Beck

Unlikely to draw the audience it deserves, but those who do see it will have a hard time shaking its gentle, ghostly echoes.

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78

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A gorgeously crafted love poem.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

With skill and also with love, writer-director Eric Mendelsohn creates a delicate and airy mood, a kind of cinematic haiku.

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75

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Its leisurely pace and surreal poetry won't break box-office records, but will surely serve to introduce Mendelsohn as a major new talent.

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75

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Laced with magic-realist bittersweetness.

75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Strikingly original movie.

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75

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Broadway-sized performances.

75

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

Possesses moments of fleeting grace, pathos and beauty, even if it ultimately doesn't amount to much.

70

TV Guide Ken Fox

A gentle, offbeat drama that hails the arrival of a new talent in writer-director Eric Mendelsohn, and bids a poignant farewell to a uniquely gifted actress, the late Madeline Kahn.

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70

Variety Dennis Harvey

Numerous lovely, quirky moments.

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70

Newsweek Ted Gideonse

Gorgeous, mesmerizing, and stunningly well acted.

63

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Boasts several fine performances and some elegant, eerie black-and- white photography.

60

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Mendelsohn's fusion of science fiction and Chekhovian melancholy finds a fresh perspective on a familiar theme.

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50

TNT RoughCut Don Kaye

More of a moody performance piece than a film.

50

Village Voice J. Hoberman

A bit precious, ultimately wearisome.

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50

Film.com John Hartl

Like "American Beauty" without the fangs - or the magic.

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50

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Arch yet earnest.

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40

Time Richard Corliss

The film is one-note; misery is the only game in town.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Avril L. gave it a 10:
This is an extraordinary film that touched me and made me look differently at the world afterwards. It is life-affirming in its sensitivity. Eric Mendelsohn, the cast and crew are to be congratulated in working together to create such a piece.

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