Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 32 Ratings

  • Summary: Joseph is an unemployed widower with a drinking problem, a man crippled by his own volatile temperament and furious anger. Hannah is a Christian worker at a charity shop, a respectable woman who seems wholesome and happy. When circumstance brings the pair together, Hannah appears as Joseph’s™s guardian angel, tempering his fury and offering him warmth, kindness and acceptance. As their relationship develops, Hannah’s own secrets are revealed — her husband is violent and abusive — and Joseph emerges as her unlikely savior. With striking performances and a deeply felt story, actor-turned-writer/director Paddy Considine's film is a stunning debut about the emergence of grace and redemption from the least likely of places. (Strand Releasing) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Negative: 1 out of 18
  1. Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    Nov 16, 2011
    91
    Considine directs with the confidence of a veteran, giving his actors room to work while letting an ominous, overcast mood hang over almost every scene.
  2. Reviewed by: David Rooney
    Mar 22, 2011
    80
    The grim drama is undeniably punishing, but Considine's screenplay laces in moments of warm human contact that puncture the harshness like delicate grace notes.
  3. Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    Nov 17, 2011
    60
    Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman give such hard-as-nails, lived-in performances in this stark drama directed by Irish actor Paddy Considine ("In America," "Cinderella Man") that it's impossible not to be pulled in.
  4. Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    Nov 18, 2011
    38
    True, the stars are very good at what they do, but so what?

See all 18 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. I first have to say that the performances are all quite stunning; particularly Olivia Colman. She takes a very measured approach to the role and it comes off perfectly. Peter Mullan was also excellent as Joseph; a great piece of casting as I felt he was ideal for the role. Eddie Marsan plays the abusive and somewhat creepy husband just right and I have to also give a mention to the young actor Samuel Bottomley, who plays a local boy who Joseph looks out for. I’m sure this young man will have a great future. This is a film that is all about the performances; there are no special effects or fancy camera trickery; it lives or dies on the performances and I have to say (for me at least) it worked to a tee! One of the criteria I use when deciding whether I like a film or not, is the emotional response it generates. And I can honestly say with this one it was all positive. Don’t get me wrong, you are taken all around the houses on the way there, but to end it they way they did I though was just perfect!

    SteelMonster’s verdict: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED My score: 9.6/10
    Expand
  2. A powerful and raw drama examining troubled, sick souls who cannot harness their abusive behaviour and therefore cannot find their much sought redemption. Olivia Colman brings a pitch perfect performance which is one of the best I have seen for a long time and together with Paddy Considine's directorial debut is definitely worth many accolades. Expand
  3. A good film, slow, dark, and depressing, but well-done. Not much happens in this film, but it features two great performances from Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman. Expand
  4. 0
    No dinosaurs. I hadn't seen any previews and I thought a movie named Tyrannosaur would be awesome, this is some crappy chick flick. THERE IS NO TYRANNOSAUR IN THE FILM. Expand

See all 10 User Reviews

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