Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 29, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterStephen Farber
There is no denying the emotional force that this film develops, and for that, we can credit talented filmmakers and two stars working at the height of their powers. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 11, 2018
Bening is magnificent. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattDec 22, 2017
It’s a minor-key tale by any measure: a May-December romance played out in the fading shadow of Old Hollywood glamour. But it also has the benefit of a thoughtful script, sensitive direction, and leads gifted enough to breathe fresh air into nearly every moment. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 31, 2017
Bening has done a remarkable job of capturing Grahame's look and her breathy way of talking, insuring that her performance is real and using it to explore still-relevant issues of aging, glamour and relationships. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisDec 27, 2017
Landing lightly on the loneliness of fame and the ravages of aging, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is a fond farewell to a distinctive talent. Yet I couldn’t help wishing it had spent less time anticipating Grahame’s death and a little more illuminating her life. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly RichardsNov 13, 2017
It’s a classy weepy with some killer dialogue, but Bening is the big sell here. Given one of the juiciest roles of her career, she makes every moment count. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
It’s a beguiling story and Bell and Bening are tremendous as the star-crossed lovers. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy Ide
Although there’s certainly a lot going on on screen, our attention is focused on Bening’s central performance. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldFeb 14, 2018
The film, directed by Paul McGuigan, is basically a weepie, and it doesn’t do quite enough to show contemporary audiences why Grahame was special. But its performances make it a pleasure to watch. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonFeb 8, 2018
A wonderfully acted and stylishly mounted tribute to a screen legend in danger of being forgotten. Unfortunately, the film focuses too much on Grahame’s illness and eventually succumbs to melodrama. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorJan 29, 2018
It's a decidedly odd, down-beat story and yet, if the sexes were reversed, we would think nothing of a young woman swapping the role of lover for that of nurse when her much-older partner fell ill. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 26, 2018
The film is frustrating because so many of its best possibilities are missed. But Bening keeps you watching, and, to a lesser extent, so does Jamie Bell as Peter Turner. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 11, 2018
The movie, directed by Paul McGuigan, may be a bit tame and well-behaved for its subjects. But it’s a valentine, not a psychodrama. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 29, 2017
What an astounding actress Annette Bening is. And she’s at her very best in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool playing Gloria Grahame. Read full review
75
The PlaylistGregory Ellwood
While Bening is incredible playing a fading Hollywood starlet in Paul McGuigan’s Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool, it’s her co-star, Jamie Bell, who might be the film’s real secret weapon. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 11, 2018
Annette Bening is so good in Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool that it makes up for a story that’s slighter than it should be. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekJan 11, 2018
Bell is terrific at conveying Peter’s impatience with Grahame’s movie-star neediness as well as his ultimate reckoning with how much he loved her. And Bening is extraordinary, serving up a seemingly contradictory cocktail of fire and vulnerability. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter Debruge
Over-production-designed as the film is, Bening and Bell manage to hold their own within it. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesFeb 1, 2018
The lion’s share of the work then is on Bening and Bell’s shoulders to flesh out dramatically thin characters. That they do. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 31, 2018
Worth seeing as further proof that Annette Bening can do anything and for a touchingly flummoxed performance by Jamie Bell, once the kid of “Billy Elliot” and now a strapping romantic lead. But if it sends audiences back to explore the filmography of Gloria Grahame, the movie will have truly provided a public service. Read full review
63
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonJan 25, 2018
There is enough space for Bell and Bening to do some good work, particularly Bell, who has more to chew on here than anything he’s done since Billy Elliot. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaDec 29, 2017
It is somewhat refreshing to witness a May-December romance from an older female perspective and both leads pour their hearts into their roles. Read full review
63
New York PostSara StewartDec 29, 2017
Bening forgoes vanity and digs into the humiliation Grahame felt as she aged out of the vampy roles Hollywood typecast her in. Bell brings a sturdy humanity to Peter, a low-key stage actor and nice guy who’s completely unfazed by their age difference. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 27, 2017
Despite some great acting, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is a largely unpleasant viewing experience and the downbeat tone isn’t helped by a narrative that flits back and forth in time without rhyme or reason, sometimes confusing the viewer with the needlessly convoluted transitions from flashback to present (and vice versa). Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 29, 2017
It’s always rewarding to see her (Bening) in action, even though her latest movie, Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool, doesn’t measure up to her performance. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeDec 21, 2017
While Bening does a studied impression of Grahame’s supple body language, she uses a light touch when recreating her Betty Boop-esque voice, letting Grahame’s seductiveness ooze from her gorgeously refined pores. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadayJan 17, 2018
It’s only upon reflection that viewers may realize that, despite its nominal title character, the movie never delves that deeply into who Gloria Grahame was, aside from a femme fatale slinking across a black-and-white screen. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 10, 2018
Here and there, particularly in flashback, Bening gets a scene or a moment to invest in and shine, but for truly a surprising length of time, Bening plays a woman who is asleep, literally. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 8, 2018
What makes Films Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is Bening’s performance, which is as one might expect is much more than mere impersonation. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJan 2, 2018
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool isn’t visually drab, only conceptually. As a critic who often complains about biopics diverging too radically from the facts, I’m chagrined to find myself wishing the filmmakers had taken more liberties with Turner’s brief memoir. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlDec 31, 2017
The finely realized Annette Bening performance at the center of Paul McGuigan’s Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool doesn’t power the movie. Bening is subject to its rhythms rather than vice versa, and her blood seems to pump faster than McGuigan’s, whose film is listless and thinly conceived. Read full review
50
TheWrapInkoo KangDec 24, 2017
Grahame’s contributions to cinema are more than worthy of a reevaluation. Her complications, too, deserve more than this tepid, uncurious portrait. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenDec 20, 2017
The film shows no interest in the inner workings of a relationship that’s defined by unusual circumstances. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid Ehrlich
Eventually so generic that it might as well be about anyone, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool creates a foul tension between the paint-by-numbers quality of its approach and the uniqueness of its affair. Read full review
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