Chris & Don. A Love Story
Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: June 13, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid Wiegand
This is the portrait of a marriage as full and enviable as the greatest unions in literature. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A celebration -- of love, commitment and devotion until the bitter end. Gay and straight viewers alike are sure to be inspired by this lyrical testament to a corollary of Tolstoy's famous dictum: Every unhappy family might be unhappy in its own way, but every genuinely happy family is a triumph. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Even a klutz could hardly make a bad movie about these compelling figures. Thankfully though, Guido Santi and Tina Mascara are superb filmmakers, fully alive in their terrific film Chris & Don: A Love Story to all the undercurrents of art, social class, sexual orientation, challenging relationships and, most especially, the touching love story at the heart of their film. Read full review
90
Village VoiceErnest Hardy
With his elegant cadence, crisp comedic timing, and witty flipping of homophobic stereotypes--in his very choice and use of language--Bachardy is that story come to life: the student who eventually mirrored his teacher, the molded who became a duplicate of the mold. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The elegantly structured documentary weaves extensive footage of Mr. Bachardy rummaging through their house and reminiscing with readings from Isherwood's diaries by Michael York, old interviews with Isherwood, home movies of their travels and glamorous social life, and commentary by friends, including Leslie Caron and the British filmmaker John Boorman. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Chris & Don is the rarest of documentaries: a realistic portrait of the human spirit. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
A fascinating documentary, one much better than its rather flat and unimaginative title. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Their love story was inevitably complicated. And so is the documentary Chris & Don: A Love Story -- not simply a love letter to love -- by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Describing the early stages of their sexual attraction, Bachardy sums up the whole outrageously fortunate arc of his life. "It was exactly what the boy wanted," Bachardy says. "And he flourished." Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
To describe the novelist's final days, Bachardy opens a drawer and begins pulling out the magnificent deathbed drawings he did of Isherwood -- a fusion of art and love that's deeply moving. Read full review
80
VarietyRobert Koehler
Made with gentle grace and sensitivity. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Intimate, moving and playful. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert Abele
Though drawn together by the thrill of infatuation, fostered by Isherwood's penchant for emergent male youth and Bachardy's awe of fame and glitz, the pair developed a durable love strengthened by nurturing and patience. In recounting this journey, directors Guido Santi and Tina Mascara make rich use of the couple's glamorous home movies. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
You wind up caring deeply about the affair that began in the 1950s between American teenager Don Bachardy and three-decades-older Christopher Isherwood, the noted British author whose "Berlin Stories" inspired "Cabaret." Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
An affecting and beautifully realized documentary. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
In part, the documentary answers the question of why some couples flourish and others flounder. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Becomes more engrossing as its focus shifts from Isherwood to Bachardy, who began as the bashful boy toy of a famous author but gradually emerged in his own right as a portrait artist of striking (and merciless) insight. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
It closes the film in what I suspect was intended as something of a happy ending, but it’s unnecessary: Thirty happy years should be happy ending enough. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
As loving and welcome as Chris & Don is, it's not well enough conceived to create equilibrium among its many parts. Read full review
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