Gloria

Columbia C.E.I.A.D. | Release Date: October 1, 1980

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

68	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Staff (Not Credited)

Cassavetes and the two leads keep maudlin sentimentality at bay until the very bitter end, when the film basically 'fesses up that movie-style happy endings are the stuff of pipe dreams. Terrific. Read full review

David Ansen

Gloria is pure, unembarrassed jive--a hipster's lark of a movie--and Rowlands give a great jive artist's performance, straight-faced and charged with sly conviction. [06 Oct 1980, p.72]

Roger Ebert

Gloria is tough, sweet and goofy. Read full review

Jake Cole

Cassavetes and Rowlands lend a screwball energy to this thriller, ably playing conflicting moods of suspense and silliness off each other to complicate an otherwise straightforward genre film. Read full review

Peter Labuza

Gloria is the rare Cassavetes film to expand its scope beyond an insular community. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

Under the masterful direction of husband John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands delivers a gutsy, spellbinding performance in this excellent crime film. Read full review

The agreeable Gloria - despite the TV advertising, it is neither violent nor frightening - has three built-in audiences, none of which should be disappointed in the slightest: students of acting, children and suckers for fairy tales. [11 Oct 1980]

Dave Kehr

Heightened emotion and nagging banal reality fight each other for screen space, doing final battle in a daringly ambiguous ending. Read full review

Richard Brody

Cassavetes films Rowlands, his wife, with self-deprecating adoration; the demanding man likens himself to the defenseless boy, and both are saved by this gloriously burdened woman who would kill for them. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Gena Rowlands is excellent as the tired woman who decides to take her chances for the boy. The kid is a right blend of understanding and childish tantrums. Read full review

Vincent Canby

It has its charms but not for a minute is it believeable, and it's certainly never embarrassingly moving in the schmaltzy way of such slick Hollywood kidflicks as Paper Moon and even The Champ. [01 Oct 1980, p.19]

Gary Arnold

The rapport that ought to evolve between Gloria and her juvenile charge never quite makes it from the filmmaker's imagination onto the screen. [10 Oct 1980, p.E7]