Head in the Clouds
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: September 17, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
17
Negative:
7
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
On paper the story may seem hopelessly contrived -- another nostalgia piece for art-house liberals -- but on-screen it's presented in purely emotional terms, which allows Duigan and his excellent leads to inhabit and ultimately transcend the period. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Charlize Theron is one of the few actresses equal to the role, bringing to it beauty, steel-edged repose, and mystery. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
The lavish drama spans England, France, and Spain (shot mostly in Montreal), and Duigan elegantly paints a moving romance of errors amid torture, bloodshed, and terrible tragedy. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Unconvincing melodrama. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis Harvey
A lively, plush but unconvincing potboiler cobbled from familiar pieces of better films (and TV miniseries). Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Lacks freshness and vitality. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Charlize Theron's Gilda in Head in the Clouds invites comparison to Rita Hayworth in 1946's "Gilda," which adds a touch of the ludicrous to this already strained material set in wartime France. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
An overlong melodrama-by-numbers. Read full review
50
SalonCharles Taylor
It's fun, but it isn't believable for a minute. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
A glossy, stiff melodrama. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Townsend seemed to me ill-matched as a romantic hero: way too moony-eyed and mushy to cope with the likes of the towering Theron and torchy Cruz. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Catastrophically overdone. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
You might not think it would be easy to make a dull film about love, war and a bisexual threesome, but Head in the Clouds manages this task efficiently. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
An exceedingly dull retro-weepie. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Armed with a cliche-ridden script and a gaggle of unconvincing performers, the result comes off more like an Ernest Hemingway letter to the Penthouse Forum than a revival of Hollywood magic. Read full review
40
NewsweekDavid Ansen
A paint-by-numbers old-fashioned romantic epic, Head in the Clouds is neither romantic nor epic, but it does succeed at old-fashioned. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
The film is a stodgy snooze, and Theron, who is about as expressive here as a porcelain doll, lacks all believability--she's followed her best performance (in Monster) with her worst. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The film feels more at home with sex than war, like a romance novel where the swinging lovers find their passions stirred by bombs exploding in the distance. Their three-way dalliances are so frivolous and silly that once the action turns dark, Duigan and his cast leave audiences unprepared for the emotional fallout. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
This pulpy, sex-drenched wartime epic seems frivolous, quaint and foolishly prurient. Read full review
40
Washington PostTeresa Wiltz
The plot contrivances are telegraphed too loudly; the emotional manipulation too obvious. Read full review
38
PremiereAaron Hillis
The story is a vapid "Casablanca"-lite. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
If you're up for a relentlessly overripe melodrama that takes place in movie-Europe as opposed to the real thing (the Parisian streetwalkers in berets are a good tip-off), by all means catch Head in the Clouds. Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Stuart Townsend, Theron's reallife boyfriend, may have inner fires as an actor that have yet to be revealed, but in Head in the Clouds he's a somber puppy who looks as if Theron could eat him alive. I wish she had. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
There's never a dull moment and seldom one that isn't sublimely ridiculous. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Duigan has the makings of a good yarn, but instead of trusting the story and his characters, he becomes fatally bogged down in trying to make statements. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A snooze, despite all the sex and other gunplay. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This spark-free film has no place to go on their resumes except under the heading of "Cringing Embarrassment." Read full review
More From This Movie

40 Critic Reviews

8.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL