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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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End of the Affair, The
Sony Pictures Entertainment
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for scenes of strong sexuality
Starring
Ralph Fiennes,
Julianne Moore,
and
Stephen Rea
A novelist living in London during WWII (Fiennes) has a chance meeting with Henry Miles (Rea), husband of his ex-mistress Sarah (Moore), who abruptly broke off their affair two years before.
| GENRE(S): |
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Neil Jordan
Graham Greene (novel)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Neil Jordan
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 16, 2000
Video: May 16, 2000
Theatrical: December 3, 1999
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
109 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA / UK |
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...
94
Mr. Showbiz
Richard T. Jameson
Rereading Greene's book, one is struck anew by the absolute perfection of the film's casting.
91
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
A gripping account of grown-up sensuality, obsession, loss and hope.
90
Variety
Emanuel Levy
A faithful adaptation that captures the haunting spirit and religious nature of the 1951 novel.
90
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Has everything a period romance should have, including a score by Michael Nyman and passionate performances by stars Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore.
88
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
Without a hint of sanctimony, it is a love story as much about soul as heart.
88
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Splendid acting helps Jordan achieve most of his goals, although some may find the romantic and religious elements an uneasy mixture.
80
Film.com
Robert Horton
It's swell when a film really does capture a book in some exactitude.
80
Salon.com
Michael Sragow
I'd put The End of the Affair just beneath the top rung of Jordan movies or Greene-based films (it's no "The Fallen Idol" or "The Third Man"), with Moore the critical element that makes it necessary viewing.
80
The New York Times
Elvis Mitchell
When it comes to holiday films worth swooning over, here's the one to see.
80
TNT RoughCut
Christopher Brandon
Moore and Fiennes both give impassioned, sexy performances.
75
San Francisco Examiner
Wesley Morris
The End of the Affair's masterfully heartbroken final scene is scarier in its nightmarishly wry suggestion of ill fate than anything that ever happened on Elm Street.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Few recent movie romances have a more chilling and peculiar feel -- and a more sobering aftertaste -- than Neil Jordan's heart-rendingly cold adaptation of Affair.
75
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The affair itself, in its genteel way, does catch fire, but it's the end of the affair that needs to move us to rapture, and the movie, instead, just drifts away.
70
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
Watching this well-behaved adaptation of one of Greene's most personal novels, you can't help but wish that the novelist had been around to write his own script.
70
Slate
David Edelstein
A religious conspiracy disguised as a romance.
70
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Rests on three excellent performances, of which the most difficult is Stephen Rea's.
67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
An engaging but essentially routine tragic romance.
63
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
The immaculately crafted film that just sits there and refuses to come to life.
63
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
If the movie were not so downbeat and its literary pedigree so distinguished, the resolution would be soap opera.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Rather prosy until its final third. Then it grabs you with unexpected force.
63
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
Many of the right elements -- the '40s look, the melodrama, the love that transcends reason.
60
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
About halfway through I began to imagine it as it might have been directed by Douglas Sirk as a vehicle for Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson.
60
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
If you're looking to be romantically captivated, this movie just might do the job.
60
Newsweek
Staff (not credited)
A film of ideas; meaty ideas about Catholicism, faith, and the true nature of jealousy, love and hate, that are rarely contemplated in today's cinema.
50
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Its impression lingers in the mind, giving the film a longer half-life than it would otherwise deserve.
50
Baltimore Sun
Ann Hornaday
Read like a long, anguished prayer, but on screen it looks an awful lot like blasphemy.
50
USA Today
Mike Clark
This is the kind of movie in which even the sex scenes are soulless.
50
Dallas Observer
Gregory Weinkauf
Satisfying in its setup and execution, and the Catholic guilt streaked through its dank, rainy atmosphere serves it well. Nonetheless, the story's subtleties in this version are often outweighed by melodrama, sometimes verging on sap.
50
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Ultimately feels like a movie whose heart is in the right place, even though someone neglected to flip the 'On' switch.
50
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
It's hard to feel anything but disappointment and boredom by the time the picture grinds to a mystical ending.
50
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Fails to capture the spiritual hallelujah of the novel.
25
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
"I didn't write this." In heaven, Graham Greene is mumbling those same words over and over right now.
 The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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