Forty Shades of Blue
Capital Entertainment | Release Date: September 28, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate Taylor
Delicate, intelligent and honest. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A compelling family melodrama somewhat in the manner of late John Cassavetes or early Robert Altman…the film combines high production values, terrific acting and a distinctively American lyricism in a combination you hardly ever see these days. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Alan, who Mr. Sachs has said was based on his own father, is a great character - passionate, complicated, bursting with life. Those words also describe Mr. Torn's performance. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Director Ira Sachs moves to the rhythms of his native Memphis, teasing emotional resonance out of geography. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The song may be somewhat familiar, but Sach gets understated performances from his entire cast and finds interesting harmonies as they play out their clashing duets. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Investing a lot of time on each corner of his three-sided character piece, director Ira Sachs (who co-wrote the film with Michael Rohatyn) has created a film as dramatically intense as it is opaque. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
This is still powerful, undiluted stuff -- a jolt of backwoods moonshine whiskey injected into the veins of the atrophied American relationship drama. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Sachs has pulled off a film of inferences and intimations, thanks largely to the casting of accomplished actors. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Rip Torn gives his best performance in years. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
A slow seduction. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I despised the character of Alan James so sincerely that I had to haul back at one point to remind myself that, hey, I've met Rip Torn and he's a nice guy and he's only acting. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A muted but nicely observed study of a Russian woman's gradual estrangement from her domineering Memphis music-legend husband. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
It's Korzun's film, and she is in complete control of her character, never divulging too much of the haunted woman under the studied facade of American hotsiness. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
A drab, minor-key melodrama. Read full review
40
Film ThreatJeremy Mathews
Repetitive interaction between characters in an aimless story can't hold up the film's weight, and it eventually collapses on its noble attempt to capture life's frustrations and compromises. Read full review
40
EmpirePatrick Peters
Rip Torn and Darren Burrows respectively over- and underplay their hands in this archly restrained Memphis melodrama. Read full review
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