Evelyn
United Artists | Release Date: December 13, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
12
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's full of good heart, and you can't help but like its unequivocal sentimentality. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A surprising, entirely beguiling little film.
80
VarietyEddie Cockrell
The star plays Doyle as just rough enough around the edges to warrant the character's setbacks, but not so unpleasant that the twinkle in his eye is extinguished. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Doesn't overdo it on the 1950s period charm -- lots of tweed, old cars and bikes, great woolly sweaters and painted rowhouses -- and the performances never get out of hand, even when the plot does. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Told with the frank simplicity of a classic well-made picture, it tells its story, nothing more, nothing less, with no fancy stuff. We relax as if we've found a good movie on cable. Story is everything here. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A shamelessly uplifting motion picture that attains its feel-good status by forging a deep emotional connection between the undertrodden protagonist and the audience. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJanice Page
Isn't just a feel-good movie; it's a feel-good-and-righteous movie. And audiences will forgive its flaws. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The story is predictable, even bland, but the stellar cast, detailed set design and abundance of good humor elevate it from the typical feel-good movie. It makes for intelligent counterprogramming against some of the season's harder-edged fare. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
If the real-life story is genuinely inspirational, the movie stirs us as well. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
James Bond wants us to believe he's an Everyman. The lovely thing is, it works. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's crowd-pleasing stuff, to be sure. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn, and Alan Bates play Desmond's legal eagles, and when joined by Brosnan, the sight of this grandiloquent quartet lolling in pretty Irish settings is a pleasant enough thing, 'tis. Read full review
63
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Despite its treacly sentimentality, predictability and gutless evasiveness about the power of the church in 1950s Ireland, Evelyn manages to be an enjoyable piece of family entertainment. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
A simple, sentimental family drama for the holidays, Evelyn, alas, is also predictable and schematic. Read full review
60
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
As vivid as many scenes are, there are just as many that seem taken directly out of the Cute Irish Movie notebook. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
While Brosnan, an Irishman by birth, lays it on bit thick, his performance is surprisingly effective. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Soggy and predictable screenplay. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
There was a fine family drama to be made here, but what we get instead is too sweet to swallow. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
May be a weightless picture, but it's hardly torture to sit through. Just watch out for those angel rays. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Its heart is so much in the right place it is difficult to get really peeved at it. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Slight and dogged; its surprises are likable but minor. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The film is at its best when painting the atmosphere and detail of 1953 Dublin. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Dull but sweet. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Though not terrible, and blessed with some nice performances, this Irish-eyes-are-smiling-despite-the-rain-and-nasty-nuns story is Hallmark Hall of Fame material.
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The facts of this true-life story are highly dramatic, and they'd have much more power without the sappy sentimentality Beresford needlessly adds to the movie. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The movie has a script (by Paul Pender) made of wood, and it's relentlessly folksy, a procession of stagy set pieces stacked with binary oppositions. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
There's way too much blarney in Evelyn.
30
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Every other line is a coy Oirishism, and Brosnan, despite being Irish, isn't any more convincing than twinkly-eyed barmaid Julianna Margulies. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
From the maudlin musical cues to a senseless romantic subplot that's only barely tacked on, every aspect of Evelyn stabs blindly and insistently at emotional buttons -- Beresford has made the feel-manipulated movie of the year. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
Think of it as trope grope. Things are so relatively democratic nowadays that filmmakers have to rummage through the past for a truly shmaltzy story. And they don't come any shmaltzier than this. Read full review
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