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Cider House Rules, The

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 16 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: John Irving (also novel)
Directed by: Lasse Hallström
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 10, 1999
DVD: August 15, 2000
Running Time: 125 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for mature thematic elements, sexuality, nudity, substance abuse and some violence
Starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Delroy Lindo, Michael Caine, Jane Alexander, and Kathy Baker
This is the story of a compassionate young man (Maguire), raised in an orphanage and trained to be a doctor by the abortionist (Caine) who runs the orphanage.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: An Unfinished Life Casanova Chocolat The Hoax The Shipping News
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Reader David Kehr
Impeccably crafted and utterly impersonal, Lasse Hallstrom's adaptation of John Irving's novel has many of the qualities Oscar is known to appreciate.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
The Cider House Rules is about many things -- chance, passivity, free will and self-invention -- but ultimately it comes back to Larch, who emerges as a toweringly noble figure even in his weakest moments.
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
To adapt it for a 130-minute movie, Irving ruthlessly cut away subplots, eliminated supporting characters and pared down the traits of the ones that remain.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Leaves out portions of John Irving's novel that would have given it more balance and perspective, but the acting by Maguire and Caine is first-rate by any standard.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Lewis Beale
"I write 19th-century stories; they're supposed to affect you emotionally," says Irving, explaining why Tinseltown keeps knocking at his door.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
It's filled with vivid characters and action. Beneath its modesty of gesture, it's one of the year's richest, most humane films.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
A deliberately old-fashioned picture that succeeds in nearly everything it tries to do.
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lasse Hallström calms Irving's typically busy 1985 best-seller with a balm of the Swedish director's typically soothing lyricism.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Many will find the subject matter disturbing, but it's clearly one of the holiday season's richest and most daring movie entries.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
That Irving adapted his novel to the screen himself and, even more, that Hallström directed it, makes Cider House a far better film than other film adaptations of Irving's work.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
A touching, old-fashioned charmer that ultimately satisfies.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
The author's fantastical world of wonders and the director's tender-hearted compassion mesh into what is easily the finest film realization of an Irving novel.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Richard T. Jameson
Hallström, a past master at cockeyed coming-of-age chronicles ("My Life as a Dog," "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"), has a near-genius for unpatronizing tolerance, and for seeing beauty in the world and nature and seasons without turning them into postcards.
TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon
This is a warm, accessible story with delightful characters and a nice metaphor about following your own rules.
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
More honest than any conventional morality tale. Here there are no heroes and no real villains; the good guys are all flawed and even bad guys are sometimes capable of the noblest of acts.
Read Full Review >Film.com Robert Horton
Part of the appeal of John Irving's writing is its sense of bounty, the way the world is offered up as a horn of plenty. The Cider House Rules movie, by contrast, feels narrowed down to small slices of experience.
Read Full Review >Film.com Peter Brunette
Always consistently watchable, but you get the feeling that in the novel --- the treacle is cut with the nasty edge that Irving's writing is capable of.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer
Rich in story, character, and design, The Cider House Rules is obviously a collaborative effort, but above all it is a triumph for director Hallström.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris
What remains of the book's psychological underpinnings -- there are enough here to leave a permanent dent in the couch of any Freud-loving shrink
San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
Has that Dickensian spirit wherein simple acts of kindness can bring an audience close to tears.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan
He (Irving) has been able to capture the quirky tone of the popular novel.
LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
It's Tobey Maguire, doing fine, subtle work, who holds it all together -- he puts a human touch to what is otherwise expertly wrought hokum.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Amy Taubin
This adaptation of John Irving's novel--- is as paternalistic, puffed-up, and dull as a congressional debate about abortion rights.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
The movie is pure pro-choice agitprop, as it tracks Homer's conversion to the cause of choice and posits the heroism of the abortionist. Pro-lifers will hate it on that point alone.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Diana Abu-Jaber
Has many affecting moments, but you may tire of the tugging on your heart strings.
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Oddly, most of the elements needed for a good movie are present here, but when added together they equal less than the sum of the parts.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
A major disappointment, The Cider House Rules pales by comparison with the gutsier, more full-bodied adaptation of Irving's "The World According to Garp."
USA Today Mike Clark
This being Irving, the story straddles the sweet and the creepy.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Steve Simels
Hallstrom's leisurely adaptation of John Irving's unconventional coming-of-age novel is so well crafted and intelligent that it feels churlish to point out that it's easier to admire than actually like.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The story touches many themes, lingers with some of them, moves on and arrives at nowhere in particular. It's not a story so much as a reverie about possible stories.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Feels like the shell of a wonderful story.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Pat C. gave it a6:
A "Summer of 42" for intellectuals. Tedious in some spots, too polished in others, and upon reflection smacks of an insidious agenda glorifying situational ethics. Oh, and not one character is completely developed. Other than that, nothing majorly wrong with this film.
Hunter C. gave it a0:
I do nominate Dr. Larch as being one of the most hypocritical characters in the history of American literture and film. One minute, he is caring and compassionate towards orphan children to the point that you want to cry. The next minute, he's cursing and scolding Homer over Homer's original disapproval of abortions. Either make Dr. Larch a caring man that truly loves children, or make him an evil man that hates children. The way this story is told, Larch is hypocritical. I'm surprised that Larch didn't stop women from having abortions the way he treated the kids in the orphanage. At the same time, I'm surprised Larch didn't lock all the orphan kids in their room and start a fire to kill them all the way he killed unborn babies. I have more respect for Hitler than Dr. Larch. At least Hitler knew who he didn't like (even though it was unjust and evil). Dr. Larch is just a big hypocrite.
Yoon C. gave it a 7:
Nice movie about a young man finding himself in the world. Raised an orphan, he finds work, falls in love, and abandons his rigid ideals to accept the world with all its warts. Good, above average, but not quite memorable.
Tori D. gave it a 9:
A touching story about a guy trying to find himself. It's just a wonderful movie that was well-acted and has a lasting effect.
Michael C. gave it an 8:
Flawed, but enthrallingly beautiful and stunningly shot with some exceptional performances.
Marc D. gave it a 10:
Should have won the Oscar over "American Beauty" in my book. Beautifully-told story. Michael Caine and Tobey Maguire are phenomenal.
