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Under solen
Metascore
60 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 18
  3. Negative: 2 out of 18
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    Movies like this are not for everyone, but arrive like private messages for their own particular audiences.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    Casts a lovely spell, as warm and seductive as its summertime setting.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    80
    Simple, earnest and workmanlike, it sings of Olof, glad and big, and how he lost his -- well, we can't say what he lost.
  4. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    80
    Makes a virtue of its own simplicity. But don't be fooled. That simplicity is mere cover. You're kept wondering about the outcome until the very end.
  5. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    Swedish cinema has been famous for a number of things: beautiful actresses, fine sexy psychological dramas, natural settings, cinematic bawdiness and a touch of melancholy. Under the Sun fits that profile well.
  6. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Marta Barber
    75
    Under the Sun doesn't intend to be dramatic, much less melodramatic. This beautiful film just wants to capture life's simplicity.
  7. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    75
    This modest drama is the art-house equivalent of comfort food: satisfying in its familiarity.
  8. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    75
    A charming, finely nuanced romance.
  9. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    70
    A touching coming-of-age story from Sweden, made interesting by the fact that the protagonist is a lonely, middle-aged farmer rather than an adolescent.
  10. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Gregory Weinkauf
    70
    Gentle and gorgeous, honoring atmosphere over attitude.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    Ultimately, it's the casting and the story that are too good to be true. If a newspaper's classified ad section could document a success like this one, there would never be a slump.
  12. Variety
    Reviewed by: Gunnar Rehlin
    60
    A celebration of traditional, detailed filmmaking.
  13. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    50
    Sugary but well-acted little emotional button-presser.
  14. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    50
    The performances are likable and there's nothing really wrong with the story -- other than the fact that Nutley hardly has any story to tell.
  15. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Jessica Winter
    50
    The kind of quotidian pastoral -- about a simple, honest peasant who finds the greatest love of all -- that the Academy invariably finds irresistible.
  16. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    50
    All three lead actors are adroit; but the story, adapted from a short story by H.E. Bates, is both contrived and not very well told.
  17. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    30
    Try as they might, the two central performers can never overcome the film's underdeveloped core, and are left flailing about amid Nutley's listless, glacial pacing.
  18. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    30
    It has the melancholy mildew of both "Marty" and the 1940's weepie "The Enchanted Cottage."
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