Elsa y Fred
DistriMax | Release Date: June 27, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
And who would have guessed that, in this age of excess and one-upmanship, when bigger is always better, the year's most romantic screen kiss would last a mere two seconds. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
A disarming Spanish dramedy of late-life love, speaks a universal language. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Sentimental, formulaic, predictable and shamelessly manipulative, Marcos Carnevale’s tale of late-life love is also genuinely heartbreaking and heartening. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
Though recalling a truckload of antecedents, "Harold and Maude" and "Sweet November" among them, Elsa & Fred manages enough fresh touches and performance subtleties to stand alone as an irresistible, bittersweet comedy. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Worth seeing just to admire how Argentine writer-director Marcos Carnevale avoids so much as a whiff of condescension. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A sweet but inconsequential romantic comedy. Read full review
60
NPRBob Mondello
By movie's end, director Marcos Carnevale has made it possible for you to see Elsa through Fred's eyes. Love has bloomed late -- but with sweet exuberance -- in this romantic charmer. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
The film may be fearlessly sentimental, but it is sturdy enough to provide rewarding major roles for two veterans, who are of an age when such starring parts are rare. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This begins to get interesting in the home stretch, as the woman's chronic deception begins to catch up with her, but for the most part it's an extended Geritol commercial. Read full review
50
VarietyJonathan Holland
Predictable fare that only occasionally fulfils its intention of being simultaneously heartbreaking and heartening. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJean Oppenheimer
The problem isn't the acting; both actors are superb. It's Elsa's character that is so difficult to take. Only the hopelessly romantic will be able to tolerate her. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Best enjoyed as a sampling of Ms. Zorrilla's combustible energy and still dazzling screen presence. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Elsa & Fred does graze against an interesting idea: that the vitality of our youths lives on in the prison of aging bodies. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
It's hard to overlook how much of Elsa & Fred is rote and pre-chewed. Read full review
40
Washington PostDan Zak
Elsa & Fred feels not substantial enough to bear the weight of its themes. It dissolves like cotton candy, making proper digestion impossible. The life it shows us is too sweet. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
Will likely warm the cockles of your heart, even though it's hardly the stuff of great romance. Read full review
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