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Il divo
  • Studio: MPI
  • Release Date: Apr 24, 2009
Metascore
81 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 17 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
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  1. Variety
    Reviewed by: Jay Weissberg
    100
    An intensely political film so wildly inventive and witty that it will become a touchstone for years to come, Il Divo is a masterpiece for maverick helmer-scribe Paolo Sorrentino.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    91
    You need know nothing about Italian politics to completely enjoy the fantastical, Fellini-fied, tragi-comic, biographical fun-for-all Il Divo.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Peter Brunette
    90
    The frequently outrageous Il Divo follows the career of one of the best-known and most tenacious figures in Italian political history in a lively, sensory-overload, cartoonlike fashion reminiscent of "Amelie" and "Moulin Rouge." The fact that it's often over-the-top goes with saying, and is part of the fun.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    90
    Simultaneously exhilarating and confounding, dazzling and confusing, this is filmmaking of such verve and style that you likely won't care that you can't follow it completely.
  5. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    The film proceeds like a black comedy version of "The Godfather," crossed with Oliver Stone's "Nixon."
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    88
    The highly stylized, often outrageously funny biopic is anchored by a devastating performance by Toni Servillo as Andreotti, brilliantly capturing the gnomic politician's trademark slouch and inexpressive face.
  7. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    88
    All in all, this phenomenal film illustrates Alexis de Tocqueville's observation that "The people get the government they deserve." In both meanings of the word, Il Divo is sensational.
  8. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Joe Williams
    88
    Anyone suggesting that an Italian film could rival the style and grandeur of "The Godfather" might end up sleeping with the fishes. But Il Divo delivers.
  9. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    80
    Il Divo plays like an elegantly ritualized black comedy.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    As operatic cinema, it ranks alongside the best of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.
  11. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Anthony Lane
    80
    Consume with great caution, and with joy.
  12. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    75
    Instead of a modern classic, able to travel the globe with ease, Il Divo is merely a wonderfully cast, tonally assured achievement, with a uniquely strange tour de force at its core.
  13. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    75
    We see the tormented, limited and potentially dangerous man underneath.
  14. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    Il Divo is showboat moviemaking, but the opulence is of a piece with the film's damning assessment of the durable Italian elder statesman Giulio Andreotti.
  15. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    75
    Fortunately, there's always the fascination of watching actor Toni Servillo, who does a brilliant job of playing Andreotti (known as Beelzebub) as a kind of devil with a clown's exterior.
  16. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    75
    Sorrentino is a spectacularly inventive talent and has harnessed an astounding performance from Servillo.
  17. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    67
    Through Sorrentino's lens, Andreotti's chief lieutenants are made to look like Reservoir Dogs, with Andreotti as a calm, tight-lipped, upper-crust analog to Lawrence Tierney.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 2 out of 6
  1. TwinklesM.
    2
    Sorrentino's glossy style seems totally inappropriate for such a purely political story, giving us endless zooms and stale Scorsese montages in place of character or insight or plot. After an hour of gazing at Toni Servillo's totally inexpressive face ; an endless stream of cryptic, gnomic remarks and a continuous stream of faceless bureacrats, maintaining interest in the 'story' becomes nigh impossible. Disappointing.… Full Review »
  2. johns
    1
    Unbelievably boring movie. i like artistic foreign films, i even like political dramas but this was a complete waist of time. there are literally 3 dozen obscure characters that one must follow and none of them are the least bit interesting. do yourself a favor and skip it.… Full Review »
  3. Novak.G.
    9
    Brilliant, brave, modern, wise, elegant, even better from Gomorra!
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