Il Divo

Variety Jay Weissberg

An intensely political film so wildly inventive and witty that it will become a touchstone for years to come, Il Divo is a masterpiece for maverick helmer-scribe Paolo Sorrentino.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

You need know nothing about Italian politics to completely enjoy the fantastical, Fellini-fied, tragi-comic, biographical fun-for-all Il Divo.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Simultaneously exhilarating and confounding, dazzling and confusing, this is filmmaking of such verve and style that you likely won't care that you can't follow it completely.

The Hollywood Reporter Peter Brunette

The frequently outrageous Il Divo follows the career of one of the best-known and most tenacious figures in Italian political history in a lively, sensory-overload, cartoonlike fashion reminiscent of "Amelie" and "Moulin Rouge." The fact that it's often over-the-top goes with saying, and is part of the fun.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

The highly stylized, often outrageously funny biopic is anchored by a devastating performance by Toni Servillo as Andreotti, brilliantly capturing the gnomic politician's trademark slouch and inexpressive face.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

All in all, this phenomenal film illustrates Alexis de Tocqueville's observation that "The people get the government they deserve." In both meanings of the word, Il Divo is sensational.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The film proceeds like a black comedy version of "The Godfather," crossed with Oliver Stone’s "Nixon."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams

Anyone suggesting that an Italian film could rival the style and grandeur of "The Godfather" might end up sleeping with the fishes. But Il Divo delivers.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

As operatic cinema, it ranks alongside the best of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

Consume with great caution, and with joy.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Il Divo plays like an elegantly ritualized black comedy.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Fortunately, there's always the fascination of watching actor Toni Servillo, who does a brilliant job of playing Andreotti (known as Beelzebub) as a kind of devil with a clown's exterior.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

We see the tormented, limited and potentially dangerous man underneath.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Il Divo is showboat moviemaking, but the opulence is of a piece with the film's damning assessment of the durable Italian elder statesman Giulio Andreotti.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Sorrentino is a spectacularly inventive talent and has harnessed an astounding performance from Servillo.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Instead of a modern classic, able to travel the globe with ease, Il Divo is merely a wonderfully cast, tonally assured achievement, with a uniquely strange tour de force at its core.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Through Sorrentino's lens, Andreotti's chief lieutenants are made to look like Reservoir Dogs, with Andreotti as a calm, tight-lipped, upper-crust analog to Lawrence Tierney.