A Simple Life
China Lion Film Distribution | Release Date: April 12, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertAug 8, 2012
The movie has an emotional payoff I failed to anticipate. It expresses hope in human nature. It is one of the year's best films. Read full review
90
The New York TimesRachel SaltzApr 12, 2012
Ms. Hui, a rare successful female director in the Hong Kong film industry, drew her story from real events, and the movie retains a tonic flavor of the everyday: its drama unfolds simply, without explosive moments but not without emotion. She and her two excellent leads keep the film buoyant. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyJan 5, 2016
Perturbing truths about old age nestle inside an outwardly sentimental shell — it’s a less cosy or placid prospect than it seems. Read full review
80
EmpireSimon CrookJan 5, 2016
Director Hui shows a different side to Hong Kong cinema in a tender drama that's illuminated by the marvellous Ip. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonJan 5, 2016
Lau’s astute performance is rather like the film as a whole – at first you think it’s underdone, but it’s actually cannily judged to favour genuine feeling over pushy sentimentality. Read full review
80
VarietyJustin ChangAug 8, 2012
Suffused with the gentle, unforced humanity viewers have come to expect from Hong Kong helmer Ann Hui, A Simple Life is a tender ode to the elderly, their caregivers and the mutual generosity of spirit that makes their limited time together worthwhile. Read full review
75
Washington PostMark JenkinsJan 5, 2016
The movie is often poignant but leavened with humor. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenApr 13, 2012
Though overlong, Hui's valentine never milks the drama for tears, maintaining an unsentimental focus on the central duo's playful chemistry and the loving way Ah Tao's attention to detail is repaid. Read full review
70
Village VoiceErnest HardyApr 10, 2012
A deceptively simple film, gingerly peels layer after layer of sharp insights into the dynamics of familial love, using compassion and droll humor as its tools. Its strength is that it manages to tap genuine emotion without succumbing to sentimentality. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineApr 10, 2012
A Simple Life may have one of the most accurate titles in all of cinema, as the film has a bracingly casual sense of day-to-day working-class life that recalls the films of Jean Renoir or, more recently, Olivier Assayas. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 5, 2016
A Simple Life is a tear-jerker, but thoughtful and intelligent, with an anti-sentimental dimension. Read full review
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