Romulus, My Father
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Metascore
57 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: Romulus, My Father is based on Raimond Gaita's critically acclaimed memoir. It tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is the tale of a boy trying to balance a universe described by his deeply moral father amidst the experience of heartbreaking absence and neglect from a depressive mother. It is, ultimately, a story of impossible love that celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son. (Magnolia Pictures)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    70
    The film succeeds on the strength of the boy, and the remarkable young actor who plays him, Kodi Smit-McPhee.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Carina Chocano
    70
    For all its sad moments, Romulus, My Father is a love story between father and son kept aloft by unalloyed admiration.
  3. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    This is a workmanlike motion picture with solid performances. It's just that the superior production values are used in service of a mediocre storyline.
  4. Variety
    Reviewed by: Russell Edwards
    60
    Warmly felt but haltingly told meller Romulus, My Father holds the attention with fine perfs and exquisite lensing, but never really grips the imagination.

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. JayH.
    6
    Solid story and acting, nice feel for the times. Sensitively directed, well written. It does get a bit slow at times however, and these slow stretches do hurt the effect of the film.… Expand
  2. ChadS.
    5
    If your voice breaks in the outback, and nobody's there to hear it, should you shave your pubes? Rai(Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a loner. If he was sociable, "Romulus, My Father" could've been a coming-of-age film like John Duigan's "The Year My Voice Broke", and its sequel "Flirting"; both set in Australia, both starring Noah Taylor. When Rai follows his crazy mother to the city, "Romulus, My Father" raises our hopes that something, anything, will happen after such an inert beginning. For a second there, things look promising. The maladjusted country boy approaches a girl in a white dress. She's dancing on her porch like a hellcat to "Wild One". It's summer. It's his chance to come-of-age. But he strikes out. She's a "real wild child", and Rai's a real square sad sack, for not recognizing the voice and piano-playing of Jerry Lee Lewis. Rai doesn't come-of-age at boarding school either. His only friend is a book. It's while he's at the academy that he has a falling out with his mother. "Romulus, My Father" is missing that crucial scene, in which father and child talk about Christina(Franka Potente). There's an albatross hovering over Rai's head that needs shooing away. Melodrama isn't melodrama, if the scene is grounded in emotional truth. "Romulus, My Father" doesn't need to be a crowd-pleaser, but it's sometimes soporific, and hard to watch.… Expand

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