Fugitive Pieces
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: May 2, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
If Fugitive Pieces has a message, it is that life can heal us, if we allow it. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Dillane gives such a layered, detailed, utterly convincing performance as a man struggling with an inescapable and suffocating burden of guilt that he quickly makes us forget that he's too old for the part. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Fugitive Pieces has a sharp, devastating story to tell. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The strengths of Fugitive Pieces are its fluidity and subtlety. Emotional repression may be one of the most difficult conditions to portray honestly, and Dillane's performance of Jakob is a study in the art of creating sympathy by not asking for it. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Made with an unerring visual dazzle -- its dark corners are shadowy, deep and melancholy, its brilliant seascapes the sparkling embodiment of why we must all find a reason to carry on. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
A subtly rich performance by Dillane and a fine supporting cast make this Holocaust drama worth seeing, even if you don't think you can bear another one. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
The performances are often more compelling than the movie's sometimes static storytelling. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
For a tale spiked with so much torment, Fugitive Pieces feels remarkably soothing. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary Goldstein
Hopscotching time on film is never easy, but Canadian writer-director Jeremy Podeswa handles it with skill and care in Fugitive Pieces, his lovely, absorbing adaptation of Anne Michaels' lauded novel about a circumspect writer haunted by his traumatic past. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
In many ways, Fugitive Pieces is a beautiful film. But it's a bit TOO beautiful. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The movie does offer intriguing, perceptive glimpses of the everyday difficulties of being both a survivor and the child of a survivor. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The romanticized image of the tortured artist - never mind how warranted his or her angst might be - is the stuff of stereotype unless it's leavened with humor, or limned in art. In Fugitive Pieces, neither element appears in sufficient quantity. Read full review
50
VarietyRobert Koehler
The cool hand of Canadian writer-director Jeremy Podeswa proves a disappointing match for Fugitive Pieces, a generally dull and unmemorable adaptation of Anne Michaels' extraordinary prose-poetry novel. Read full review
50
Village VoiceElla Taylor
Fugitive Pieces is a cerebral excavation into history, written in lush cadences meant to be read or recited. It may be unfilmable, and in pursuit of sensitivity, Canadian writer-director Jeremy Podeswa hollows out the novel's urgency in favor of a vaguely spiritual morbidity. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The film has lofty goals, but comes across as leaden and pretentious. It's a character study in which the lead participant is the least interesting person in the movie. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
As plodding and pretentious as it is ambitious. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Everyone in the movie, from Dillane to (especially) Serbedzija down to the child actor Robbie Kay (as young Beer), is fabulous, and Podeswa has an ability to distill history into a few powerful images. The movie, however, is circular in structure and keeps reiterating points it has already made. For some, it will be a long sit. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Tasteful, unremarkable art-house fare, rescued from complete irrelevance by Stephen Dillane's bottled-up performance as a writer scarred by the Holocaust. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Though much of the film's power is tamped down by the passive storytelling style, Dillane's performance as the adult Jakob is compelling, and Ayelet Zurer is beguiling as Jakob's late-in-life soul mate. Read full review
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