Hard Goodbyes: My Father
Release Date: September 16, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatMark Sells
Part of what makes the film engaging is the carefully nuanced performances Panayotopoulou gets from her actors. In particular, Giorgos Karayannis. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Like the moving 1999 American "A Walk on the Moon," with Diane Lane and Viggo Mortensen, Hard Goodbyes juxtaposes a family crisis with the excitement of the period before and during Neil Armstrong's 1969 moonwalk. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Panayotopoulou casts a transcendent eye upon her downbeat subject matter, never dodging the unsentimental truth that growing up is about learning to live with the loss of those things we have loved. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Hard Goodbyes could easily have been maudlin, but isn't. Credit an adult script and realistic acting, especially by Giorgos Karayannis as Elias. Read full review
70
VarietyDerek Elley
An involving family drama about a young boy's dreams and personal loss, Hard Goodbyes: My Father brings a light touch -- and a full measure of unaffected charm -- to potentially downbeat material. Read full review
70
Village VoiceR. Emmet Sweeney
A tender Greek drama. Read full review
70
The New York TimesLaura Kern
Considering the delicate and weighty subject matter, the film's tone is surprisingly light, sometimes even humorous, which helps to balance the harsh sentiments that death inevitably brings. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBernard Besserglik
A tender and moving drama that deserves wider exposure. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Panayotopoulou does handle the material with sensitivity, but she relies too much on her young hero's unlikely precocity, which unwittingly diminishes the intensity of a child's very real grief. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Panayotopoulou's background in photography shows in the way she lets her chiaroscuro lighting mirror her characters' emotions. It also shows in the still-life quality that Hard Goodbyes never quite gets beyond. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderMartin Rubin
First-time director Penny Panayotopoulou's approach to the delicate subject matter is commendably tactful and tasteful--it's also underdramatized, monotonous, and short on humor. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleJohn McMurtrie
A tender, gently paced coming-of-age movie whose strength is its young lead actor. Read full review
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