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
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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