A Love Song
Bleecker Street | Release Date: July 29, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Washington PostKristen Page-KirbyAug 2, 2022
Like silent meditation, “A Love Song” isn’t for everyone. The movie requires its audience to both remain still and stay engaged. Those are skills many directors no longer value, so they’re skills many moviegoers no longer possess. But for those who will do the work, “A Love Song” is a special film that will stay with you long after the clamor of real life rushes back in around you. Read full review
100
TheWrapCarlos AguilarJan 22, 2022
Walker-Silverman exhibits the sensibilities of a master storyteller, capable of making his splendid writing seem effortless in its construction and then molding it into warm magic via the cast’s remarkable talent. He’s an absolute revelation among emerging voices. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubLuke Y. ThompsonJul 26, 2022
On the surface, there’s little more simple than a story of two people trying to make a connection. On an emotional level, however, few things are more complicated. Like life, A Love Song offers no easy conclusions—just simple realizations. In expert hands, that’s enough. Read full review
91
The Film StageDan MeccaFeb 14, 2022
Do not let the brief runtime or spartan setting dissuade you. This is nuanced drama, well-felt and well-told. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJul 29, 2022
It’s all supremely touching and evocative without ever feeling too on-the-nose or heavy-handed. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJul 28, 2022
Slow, sweet and subdued, A Love Song, Max Walker-Silverman’s lovely first feature, is about late-life longing and needs that never completely go away. Read full review
87
Paste MagazineJacob OllerJan 22, 2022
A Love Song’s a brief and pretty little thing—less than 90 minutes—with the warm melancholy of revisiting a memory or, yes, an old jukebox love song. Walker-Silverman displays a keen eye, a deep heart and a sense of humor just silly enough to sour the saccharine. Read full review
85
Film ThreatRob RectorJul 29, 2022
The main actors infuse A Love Song with a sanguine authenticity that keeps things simple narratively. However, it speaks volumes about love, loss, and the desire for connection, however fleeting, and whatever stage of life one is in. Read full review
83
The PlaylistMarya E. GatesJan 22, 2022
Dickey and Studi are magnetic on-screen, oscillating between the easy chemistry of old friends, and the awkwardness of strangers. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 19, 2022
The landscape has a certain gaunt beauty and so does Dickey’s performance. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeDec 19, 2022
There’s a sparseness and stillness to Max Walker-Silverman’s storytelling that is filled by Dickey’s terrific, lived-in performance and the brief spark of connection between two lonely people. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 16, 2022
A Love Song is, no doubt, a small movie (it only lasts 81 minutes), a miniature study of a life. But it is an oddly compelling one. And Dickey and Studi masterfully make the difficult look easy. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJul 28, 2022
A Love Song has the narrative economy and the sneaky emotional power of a well-crafted short story, plus a feel for isolation and rootlessness that harks back to some of the great drifter portraits of American independent cinema. It’s a testament to the lyricism that Walker-Silverman conjures here that I sometimes wished he would slow his narrative roll even further, immersing us even more deeply in the story’s quotidian rhythms. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy IdeJan 22, 2022
[A] subdued but affecting drama which showcases both a stark and striking backdrop and a pair of lovely, intimate performances from character actors Dale Dickey and Wes Studi. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJan 22, 2022
A Love Song should resonate with those who seek truth more than incident from their movies. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschJan 22, 2022
If the film doesn’t exactly transcend its familiarity (the elegiac tone, the sun-baked, wind-swept scenery, the wistful acoustic guitar score), it succeeds, often with understated magnificence, in finding ways to sidestep it — to make you not mind in the slightest. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAug 11, 2022
It is beautiful, quiet, tender, and borne aloft by that rejection of the idea of hopelessness. You don't have to believe in one particular romance, it whispers, to still believe in romance. Read full review
75
The Associated PressMark KennedyJul 26, 2022
As a viewer, you may leave the theater with more answers than when you arrived — and that’s refreshing. Walker-Silverman has no interest in putting pretty bows on things, loads of past histories or sentimentality. This is what love looks like with wrinkles and sorrow but also sunshine and joy — it pushes through the harshness of life and blooms with possibility. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 8, 2022
A Love Song is a lovely, valedictory film for two of the best actors of their generation, so it’s worth the effort you make to track it down. Any time a movie maker crafts something this gentle and fine for two wonderful players who rarely get the spotlight is to be celebrated. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearJul 28, 2022
There’s a genuine sense of admiration for these two middle-aged characters emanating from behind the camera, and you get the feeling that Walker-Silverman, a young filmmaker with a handful of shorts to his name, isn’t that interested in too-cool-for-film-school showboating. Read full review
70
SlashfilmShania RussellJan 23, 2022
A Love Song is rough around the edges, but between its gorgeously crafted world and Dickey's ability to ground the film with a single expression, the flaws fade away when the finer elements sing together in harmony. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJul 29, 2022
A Love Song is a companionable movie to sit through. It’s well-photographed, unobtrusively edited, full of wondrous sights, and acted by a couple of masters of warm underplaying. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineClayton DillardJul 26, 2022
The film relies on wide shots of distant mountains to stand in for a fruitful interrogation of what it means to occupy the open terrain of the U.S. Read full review
60
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannJul 29, 2022
What A Love Song lacks in execution it more than makes up for in stellar performances and beautifully directed scenes. Read full review
42
IndieWireRobert DanielsJan 22, 2022
Both Dickey and Studi shoulder the lesser material through a charming naturalism that papers over the script’s artificiality. Read full review
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