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40Ethel comes off as a lovely family heirloom, something future generations of Kennedys can cherish. For the rest of us, it's a little less compelling.
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83A loving portrait of a lady--but who probably would be just as happy not to have this or any portrait at all.
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70Though Ethel can't possibly be construed as a tell-all, much less the work of an impartial observer, it's great that someone finally got her to talk at all.
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75While often touching, it's a lightweight addition to HBO's schedule.
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30Ethel is tone-deaf and maddeningly incomplete.
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75You will come away from the film understanding a great deal about an extraordinary woman who played much more than just a supporting role in a significant period in our history. Perhaps more important, you will get a better sense of that historic period as well.
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75Even with its air-brushing and reticent title subject, Ethel is a watchable, oft-affecting film.
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80People who think the Kennedy cake has been overfrosted surely won't fall for it, even though the film is undeniably moving. No one in the film tells all, certainly not Ethel.
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70Again and again, Ethel insists she doesn't like to "talk about" her self, doesn't like to be introspective. And so the film offers images for the rest of us to parse, public performances that may or may not reveal what we want to see.
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50As it is, Kennedy buffs will enjoy Ethel enormously. Others likely will think it's about half an hour too long.
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Oct 16, 201280Ethel is a moving, highly enjoyable, thoroughly absorbing portrait.
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Oct 15, 201283This intimate biopic of a Kennedy matriarch is quite charming.