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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
  • Studio: Tartan
  • Release Date: Apr 26, 2006
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Image
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Metascore
84 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 27 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: Anyone who has waited for treatment in an emergency room or chafed under the less than devoted care of a disinterested doctor will recognize Mr. Lazarescu's dilemma. A 60-ish widower, living alone in Bucharest with his cats, he feels sick enough one evening to call an ambulance. This is the beginning of his Dantesque odyssey deep into the bowels of a big city medical establishment. It's a story that could take place anywhere and Mr. Lazarescu could be your next-door neighbor – or he could be you. (Tartan Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 1 out of 30
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Like "United 93" and the work of the Dardenne brothers, it lives entirely in the moment, seeing what happens as it happens, drawing no conclusions, making no speeches, creating no artificial dramatic conflicts, just showing people living one moment after another, as they must.
  2. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    60
    Needlessly long, visually drab and not just a foreign-language film, with English subtitles, but a film that's ostensibly foreign to our experience. That said, there are compelling reasons to see it.
    All this critic's reviews
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    38
    It's supposed to be about a Kafkaesque experience. Instead, it IS a Kafkaesque experience. Why are we here? Is everything absurd? Is anyone in charge?

See all 30 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 2 out of 12
  1. BogdanP.
    10
    The drama on the screen is no more powerful than the real drama. Yet the true power of the movie is that it portrays reality as no one believes it could be. Deeply human. Sad nonetheless.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. KenG.
    5
    First half of movie is really slow. There was no reason, other then self-indulgence, that filmmakers couldn't have cut 30 mintues out of this section, giving them a 2 hour movie, rather then 2 and a half hours. 2nd half of movie isn't as slow, but it feels more and more repetitious. I also think filmmakers made a bad call my making this all happen on the night of a terrible bus crash. The emergenacy rooms of big city hospitals tend to be very busy places on any night. If you throw on top of that the kaos that would result from a terrible bus crash, I don't think it's that shocking that someone might be "lost in the shuffle". This would have made a more powerful statement if it had happened on "just another night". I have read about the comedy and the humor that is in this movie, but it's not likely you'll see it. Perhaps the critics could point out the funny parts in their reviews. (and no, I don't need Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler to laugh. In fact I don't think they're particurarily funny. Carrey and Sandler are both better actors then they are comedians). By the end of the end of the movie all I was really interested in was the lesbian relationship that is hinted at between the middle-age paramedic, and the really good looking nurse at one of the hospitals. But unfortunately, movie never gets back to this.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. JamieB
    1
    Never before have I ever wished death on anyone, but by the end of this film I just wanted Mr Lazarescu to die. Perhaps that was the point. To be honest though if I had wanted to torture myself I would have stubbed cigarettes out on my hand in preference to watching this film.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 12 User Reviews

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