Sophie's Choice

Name: Sophie's Choice
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: December 8, 1982
Duration: 150 min
Rating: 68
Cast: Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, Peter MacNicol

1982

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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7.8

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7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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Sophie's Choice

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Movie Details & Credits

CBS/Fox | Release Date: December 8, 1982 | R

Starring: Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, Peter MacNicol

Summary: Sophie (Streep) an Auschwitz survivor lives contently with Nathan (Kline). As Nathan becomes more unstable, she begins revealing her past to witer Stingo (MacNicol).

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 150 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Roger Ebert

Sophie's Choice is a fine, absorbing, wonderfully acted, heartbreaking movie. Read full review

Janet Maslin

Thanks in large part to Miss Streep's bravura performance, it's a film that casts a powerful, uninterrupted spell. Read full review

Staff [Not Credited]

Competently directed by Pakula and featuring gorgeous cinematography by Almendros, Sophie's Choice is an overlong, fairly schlocky film that takes itself very seriously. Read full review

Jay Scott

The film is a respectable, claustrophobic and slick piece of work, and cinematographer Nestor Almendros' color strategies - Rembrandt-like light at night, lemony tones during the day, desaturated sepia at Auschwitz - are arty to a fault. [14 Dec 1982]

Michael Blowen

Alan Pakula's literal adaptation of William Styron's Sophie's Choice is an admirable, if reverential, movie that crams this triangle into a 2 1/2 -hour character study enriched by Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, and nearly destroyed by Peter MacNicol. [21 Jan 1983]

Keith Phipps

Alan J. Pakula’s 1982 adaptation of William Styron’s 1979 novel Sophie’s Choice is one of those films whose great qualities put its lesser elements in sharp relief. Read full review

Dave Kehr

The picture is completely devoid of cinematic interest, adopting instead a tiresome theatrical aesthetic in which showy monologues are filmed in interminable, usually ill-chosen long takes. Read full review

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User Reviews

JackieSans

Jun 25, 2014

Meryl Streep is flawless in this film which, in my opinion, is her best. The stories of her past, not only the camps but meeting Nathan, are told with heartbreaking truth and beauty. Kevin Kline is a wonderfully unlikable persona. The only flaw, to me, is Stingo. His vulnerability comes thruMeryl Streep is flawless in this film which, in my opinion, is her best. The stories of her past, not only the camps but meeting Nathan, are told with heartbreaking truth and beauty. Kevin Kline is a wonderfully unlikable persona. The only flaw, to me, is Stingo. His vulnerability comes thru very well, but his character (or maybe his acting) just wasn't up to par with Streep and Kline. Sophie is one of the most memorable characters I've ever encountered in cinema.… Expand

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beingryanjude

Sep 4, 2014

An overwhelmingly powerful experience. Sophie's Choice is filled with perhaps one of the greatest performances of all-time from Meryl Streep. This one will hit you.

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Clyde91

Oct 16, 2019

Sophie's Choice by Alan Pakula is an excellent movie, propelled to greatness by a staggering performance by Meryl Streep. Although it's false to believe that Sophie's Choice is all Streep, she is without a doubt the most critical component, and her performance came in service of a powerfulSophie's Choice by Alan Pakula is an excellent movie, propelled to greatness by a staggering performance by Meryl Streep. Although it's false to believe that Sophie's Choice is all Streep, she is without a doubt the most critical component, and her performance came in service of a powerful screenplay under the direction of an accomplished director. Without Streep, Sophie's Choice would have been a very good motion picture. With her, it attains greatness. By providing one of the all-time great female performances, Meryl Streep earned her Best Actress Oscar. Streep's portrayal - forceful, emotional, and utterly compelling – is among the best of a very prestigious career. There's no getting around the simple fact that Sophie's Choice is a downer, but so are many of the most powerful motion pictures. Perhaps that's because nothing tears at the soul as deeply as guilt, and few things are more devastating than guilt without the possibility of redemption or forgiveness.(Great film buoyed by a great performance).… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

amheretojudge

Jan 15, 2018

you mean, i have to choose?

Sophie's Choice Sophie's Choice has a lot to offer; some good conversations, intense scenes, brilliant performance and a good old concept, but isn't enough for its runtime as it lacks gripping screenplay, vigorous tone and a thread to hold on for the audience.you mean, i have to choose?

Sophie's Choice

Sophie's Choice has a lot to offer; some good conversations, intense scenes, brilliant performance and a good old concept, but isn't enough for its runtime as it lacks gripping screenplay, vigorous tone and a thread to hold on for the audience. Meryl Streep is phenomenal in playing a part where the character is more human than ever i.e. a flawed character that isn't forcefully justified.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Broyax

Dec 31, 2016

J'avais lu le bouquin il ya bien longtemps et il m'était resté sur l'estomac comme un gros truc dégueulasse qui avait l'air bon mais qu'on ne digère pas... mais c'était il y a longtemps, alors accordons-lui le bénéfice du doute.

En ce qui concerne le film, l'impression est d'emblée trèsJ'avais lu le bouquin il ya bien longtemps et il m'était resté sur l'estomac comme un gros truc dégueulasse qui avait l'air bon mais qu'on ne digère pas... mais c'était il y a longtemps, alors accordons-lui le bénéfice du doute.

En ce qui concerne le film, l'impression est d'emblée très mauvaise, comme les deux plombes et demi le confirment lentement, parmi lesquelles on aura du mal à dégager 40 à 45 mn regardables.

Malgré en effet tous les efforts de la torturée Meryl Streep et la bipolarité de l'agité Kevin Kline qui se retrouvent à leur grand dam davantage dans la caricature que dans la restitution de l'authentique émotion dramatique... Ils sont tous deux fort mal dirigés par un réalisateur obsédé par la guimauve à sensations, une guimauve qui sonne faux et vide de substance le choix terrifiant de Sophie, cette femme abîmée par la vie.

Notez que l'histoire en elle-même est une bonne base et en même temps un sujet extrêmement difficile à porter au cinéma. On lui préfèrera largement la 25ème heure (autre sujet incroyable mais avec Anthony Quinn), un film tellement plus vrai et tellement plus déchirant dans sa peinture du malheur que Le Choix de Sophie n'en apparaît que plus fadasse, pontifiant, sirupeux et interminable.… Expand

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