Alias Betty
Wellspring Media | Release Date: September 13, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
1
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
In today's cynical cinematic climate, there's something beautiful in Miller's simple poetic justice. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A confidently adroit thriller that captures a comprehensive sense of life in an edgy, multicultural and economically diverse Paris. The large cast couldn't be better, but the film belongs to Kiberlain. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Such an accomplished piece of filmmaking that it interweaves enough characters and themes to fill three movies. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
The last-minute details of plot can't compete with the frightening intensity of Kiberlain's and Garcia's performances, which trace, with brilliant precision, the exhausting mix of brutality and grace inherent in the mother-daughter relationship. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
What really makes Alias Betty stand out, even from good recent French ensemble films like "Eight Women" and "Venus Beauty Institute," is that ingenious, Rendell-derived story. To kidnap an old phrase, it's a corker. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A nifty, entwined, ultimately gripping adaptation of British crime writer Ruth Rendell's novel ''The Tree of Hands'' by French director Claude Miller. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
What's wonderful about director Claude Miller's adaptation of Ruth Rendell's novel "The Tree of Hands" is its grand capacity for compassion and complexity. Read full review
80
Village VoiceLeslie Camhi
Infusing Rendell's intrigue with warmth and humor, Miller makes the film's sometimes mechanical and giddy narrative into something grander -- a meditation on maternity as a form of inspired madness. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
This quiet French thriller gets to the heart of motherhood, and then pays off with comfort and calm. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Mr. Miller tells several interlocking stories with such daring and intensity that you sense he could go on indefinitely, spinning one terrific yarn off another.
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
It's one of the season's most original and energetic movies. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Despite a contrived ending that brings together all the film's characters, Alias Betty is inventive filmmaking. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleJonathan Curiel
Somehow, it all works -- even if Miller relies on a plot that meanders a bit and loses some of its luster. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
As long as Miller simply crosscuts between the machinations of the three mothers, the sociological and psychological parallels are intriguing, but when they're forced to share the same story line, the contrivances and coincidences begin to seem fussily elaborate. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Complicated thriller that gets more interesting as its complications pile up. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
A lot goes on, and it doesn't always make sense. But the cast embodies Rendell's ability to incorporate shrewd observations on human behavior into the framework of a crime story, and Miller has a great eye for the places on the Paris outskirts where the lives of haves and have-nots intersect. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
If the ending isn't conventionally happy, it's certainly deeply satisfying. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Makes it pretty difficult to tell the difference between good mothers and bad. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Of the several threads interwoven here, only one is riveting, thanks to the performance of Sandrine Kiberlain as Betty. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJanice Page
Miller is certainly faithful to the spirit of Rendell's psychologically probing, class-dissecting novels, even if his probing doesn't go nearly as deep and his storytelling isn't as compelling. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Makes for interesting, rather than emotionally compelling viewing. Read full review
20
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The good news might be that Huppert wasn't available for Alias Betty, but the bad news is that it didn't stop France from exporting yet one more cold, pretentious, thoroughly dislikable study in sociopathy. Read full review
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