Heights
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: June 17, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
11
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
There's much subtle beauty in the last movie completed by Merchant Ivory Productions before Merchant's untimely death. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Fox uses her earth-tone-clad, Ivy-League-schooled characters the way Jane Austen used hers: taking their privileged, rigid social structures and building a stage to explore deeper human problems. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The acting is uniformly superb. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Heights is stage-bound throughout, and the secrets it would like to keep are very predictable. But its heart is in the right place, and the performances are first-rate. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Heights breathes, is briefly and immediately present, and is over. In this summer of noisy steroid cinema, such small favors are welcome. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The film is one of those interlocking dramas where all of the characters are involved in each other's lives, if only they knew it. We know, and one of our pleasures is waiting for the pennies to drop. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Perversely fascinating. Read full review
70
Film ThreatJeremy Mathews
Director Chris Terrio confidently delivers a solid first feature, but sometimes doesn’t always engage in the characters’ inner demons, which could have made an even better film given the cast and material. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Beautifully shot on location in New York and consistently well-acted, but it sticks a little too closely to the surface to be very compelling. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
These are not people me and you and everyone we know know--these are "short version" people, characters who comfort each other by quoting Shakespeare. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jason Anderson
Lacks the energy and vibrancy of the best films to come out of the city in the past few years. Read full review
60
VarietyLisa Nesselson
An entertaining ensembler marbled with wit and heartache. Read full review
60
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
In this study of keeping up appearances while everything falls apart, the stakes never seem as high as the title suggests. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Director Chris Terrio adapts Amy Fox's play with flashes of wit, moments of insight, and some fine performances. But Heights' characters move along such preordained paths and perform such familiar movie actions that they might as well sport antennae. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Like the film, the characters mean well and look good. But they're so deeply immersed in their own heads that they can't see the world for their needs. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Terrio keeps the multiple stories flowing smoothly, and the setting goes a long way to justify the web of fortuitous interconnections -- New York is the ultimate two-degrees-of-separation town. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
This is brisk and fun to watch, thanks to the actors...But once you catch the main drift of the plot, it becomes awfully ho-hum. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
The result is a kind of quirky, high-toned soap opera. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
As enjoyable as Close is, Heights as a whole is a mannered simulation that only occasionally and accidentally feels like real New York life. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerGianni Truzzi
Themes at the heart of Heights of despair among the beautiful people are a bore. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
Heights manages to make the lives of all these beautiful people seem quite tedious. Despite their accomplishments, the only thing they seem suited for is hailing cabs. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Terrio's technically proficient film is mature, modern, and minus the all-important passion and risk. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
Working in Terribly Serious mode, rookie director Chris Terrio proves as pompous as filmmakers three times his age. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
If there's anything good to be said about Heights, it's Glenn Close's strutty, booming performance. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Heights is nothing more than a second-rate version of several much better movies, all of which are available on DVD and video. Read full review
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