At First Sight
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: January 15, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
11
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
An exceptionally touching and provocative love story. [15 January 1999, Calendar, p. F-4]
75
Chicago TribuneGene Siskel
More of a physical achievement in moviemaking than a piece of storytelling, but I do recommend it on that basis. [15 January 1999, Friday, p.A]
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The sweetest little movie about a neurological disorder that we're ever likely to see. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Offers solid entertainment, it's too uneven to be considered memorable. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Val Kilmer, clearly pleased to be entering the Oscar disability sweepstakes, does what he can as the hunk who learns how to see. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The movie takes fascinating material and transforms it into a routine soap opera. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Its moments of fascination and its good performances are mired in the morass of romance and melodrama that surrounds it. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerG. Allen Johnson
It's a movie drenched in narcissism and wish-fulfillment, almost a textbook on how to make a formulaic, romantic film. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
A love boat afloat on the vast cinematic ocean that sloshes back and forth between the stinko and the fabulous. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
May be only loosely true, but it is thoroughly Hollywood. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Director Irwin Winkler (Night and the City)is rarely better than pedestrian in handling this story. At worst, the dramatic elements are plain clumsy. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Here's a romance without a spark of excitement. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The pace is so plodding and the dialogue so unwaveringly banal … that the film can't rise to the extraordinary sensations it means to capture. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
For all the tear-jerking plot twists, it's a glumly dry-eyed affair. Read full review
40
VarietyLael Loewenstein
Although it's notoriously difficult to play a romance involving one partner's disability or illness without resorting to sentimentality, Kilmer acquits himself admirably. Read full review
38
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
If "You've Got Mail" jangled your nerves with its Starbucks-fueled cuteness, here's a romance that goes down like instant decaf. [15 January 1999, Life, p.18E]
30
L.A. WeeklyPaul Malcolm
Even when the film does strike some genuinely heart-tugging notes, they’re invariably shattered by such ham-fisted lines as “You really are blind.” At times, it’s enough to make you wish you were deaf. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Director Irwin Winkler and his cast obviously hope to shed light on the boundaries of love, and instead come up with a walloping case of the preachies. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's drainingly mediocre. Read full review
20
Village VoiceDennis Lim
The film slips into a coma early on and never awakens. Read full review
20
Washington PostRita Kempley
It's sheer piffle, a disingenuous romance with Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino that's all sap and no sizzle. Read full review
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