Cider House Rules, The

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Variety David Rooney

A touching, old-fashioned charmer that ultimately satisfies.

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.

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.

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.

Time Richard Corliss

A small epic with subtle strengths.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Feels like the shell of a wonderful story.