Ghost River
Empire Pictures | Release Date: March 5, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatPhil Hall
This amazing tour-de-force presents Huppert in a role, which is equal parts abrasive and vulnerable, exasperating and pathetic, monstrous and saintly. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Huppert shows everything to us, and it's fascinating. Read full review
70
VarietyLisa Nesselson
Huppert's mastery aside, this is a European Art Film writ large, complete with classical music, gorgeously filmed landscapes, expository voiceovers, poetic transitions and only a ghost's footprint of a story. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Directed by Olivier Dahan, Isabelle Huppert takes the most familiar type of material and attains impeccable results. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Even Isabelle Huppert Lite is more profound than the best work of most other actresses. Read full review
63
New York PostV.A. Musetto
You have to hand it to Huppert. She doesn't let the hokey plot and syrupy cinematography (what's with those repeated shots of flowers blowing in the wind?) keep her from giving a profound performance. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
La Vie Promise's style is too slick for the subject matter. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The only conceivable reason to immerse oneself in this inexplicable release is, of course, Huppert. Gravely, she accepts the challenge of delivering a coherent performance in a wildly incoherent role. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Expressive touches are finally inadequate. Ms. Huppert's hard work notwithstanding, they don't take the place of psychological texture and narrative weight. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Unfortunately lacks much in the way of compelling narrative or credible characterizations, but it once again reaffirms Huppert's place in the pantheon of French film actors. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This is a rare road picture that leaves us knowing less about our traveling companions than we did when the journey started; Dahan and screenwriter Agnes Fustier-Dahan reduce their characters to pasteboard symbols, colored by unexplained quirks. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Outside of Sylvia, none of the characters has any real presence or personality in a movie that takes greater interest in shots of pretty flowers than in the human beings onscreen, and in which nearly every major plot turn is the result of blind chance. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
About the only thing that makes any sense in La Vie Promise is Huppert's face, a visage that has aged in the most extraordinary way. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Truly, there is nothing the woman (Isabelle Huppert) can't do - except save "Promise'' from the valley of the shadow of bad French movie pretensions. Read full review
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