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Lawless Heart
EMAILPRINTFirst Look Pictures Releasing

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by:
Tom Hunsinger
Neil Hunter
Directed by:
Tom Hunsinger
Neil Hunter
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 21, 2003
DVD: August 19, 2003
Running Time: 99 minutes, Color
Origin: UK
Summary
RATING: R for strong sexuality/nudity and language
Starring Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander, Douglas Henshall, Clémentine Célarié, Ellie Haddington, Sukie Smith, Josephine Butler, and Stuart Laing
A sharp, modern love story where lust, love and loyalty are stretched to their limits. Told from three different perspectives, Lawless Heart reveals the comic and subtle realities of modern relationships. (First Look Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site Official UK 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...
Slate David Edelstein
An unassuming gem: an impishly funny, melancholy, absolutely delightful English ensemble drama.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Working toward its refreshingly light but utterly apt ending, the film teems with insights into the human condition revealed by an unusually smart script and a wonderfully committed cast. It's a truly fine work.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Virtually nothing at all is wrapped up in The Lawless Heart, which is probably why it feels so satisfyingly whole by the end.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
By allowing the stories to play off one another and allowing layers of meaning to accumulate before we even notice them, the filmmakers capture some of the essential strangeness of life -- the way our relations are governed by laws that remain invisible to us until art reveals their workings.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Charming, disarming and in some ways humbling film.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
So well crafted, so original, that each overlapping scene swells with new life and interpretation.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The thread that winds through their stories is love lost and connections found, but only the audience is able to weave it into something to keep.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Its protagonists' hearts aren't lawless so much as stuck in various states of quiet desperation, and the modest charms of this observant, affecting film fortunately bear little relation to the sensationalistic label.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Tom Hollander gives a strong performance as the considerate and quietly grieving young man.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Bill Gallo
One beautiful piece of work--as alert and aware a survey of interpersonal relations as you're likely to find at the movies this year.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
For these gifted directors and their fine ensemble, the notion that every life forms into a mosaic of intimate, largely unobserved details is the story most worth telling.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Solid acting and engaging characters round out the neatly assembled tale.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The purpose of the movie is perhaps to show us, in a quietly amusing way, that while we travel down our own lifelines, seeing everything from our own points of view, we hardly suspect the secrets of the lives we intersect with.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A little like a British Eric Rohmer film -- a lot of talk, and a lot of talk about love and relationships -- Lawless Heart has wit and a winning charm.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Perfectly modulated in its tone and performances, Lawless Heart is content to be a small, quiet film. We could use a few more like it.
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
This slyly humorous, cleverly constructed comedy-drama wends its way through different takes on similar time frames to a warm, inclusive ending.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The storytelling structure is far more interesting than the story itself. And the elegiac pictures of boats and water are, dismayingly, most engrossing of all.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
It takes a while to get used to the fractured narrative, but once done it is easy to put your mind on autopilot and go with the offbeat characters and events.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Gimmickry is death to this sort of artsy endeavour -- it turns a movie with a small budget into a small movie.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Despite its leisurely pace, this unpretentious, character-driven picture is a low-key charmer.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
The result is a film that's honest and tepid, intelligent and dull, worthy and forgettable.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
Like grieving itself, the film is awkward, messily honest, and sometimes darkly funny.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Vicki W. gave it a 0:
Too bad I couldn't choose a negative rating for this gay men's film that bashes every heterosexual relationship (ie: marriage, friends, dating, & pick-up) as lying, unfaithful, depraved men using cold or stupid women in every way possible.
Noel F. gave it a 9:
Well acted, it begins 3 times from 3 points of view which in the end answers all. Comic, yes in an understated way, but life affirming with everyone not getting what they want but perhaps what they need. Bill Nighy is stellar and the rest solid in this offbeat gem.
Lesley P. gave it a 6:
Refreshing, clever story line, no belly laughs but filled with wry humour. Surprising/frustrating at times. A change from many films put out there today - a difficult one to recommend to anyone.
