Lawless Heart
First Look International | Release Date: February 21, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
SlateDavid Edelstein
An unassuming gem: an impishly funny, melancholy, absolutely delightful English ensemble drama. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Working toward its refreshingly light but utterly apt ending, the film teems with insights into the human condition revealed by an unusually smart script and a wonderfully committed cast. It's a truly fine work. Read full review
90
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Virtually nothing at all is wrapped up in The Lawless Heart, which is probably why it feels so satisfyingly whole by the end. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
By allowing the stories to play off one another and allowing layers of meaning to accumulate before we even notice them, the filmmakers capture some of the essential strangeness of life -- the way our relations are governed by laws that remain invisible to us until art reveals their workings. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Charming, disarming and in some ways humbling film. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The thread that winds through their stories is love lost and connections found, but only the audience is able to weave it into something to keep. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Sharp, witty and decidedly different. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
So well crafted, so original, that each overlapping scene swells with new life and interpretation. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
For these gifted directors and their fine ensemble, the notion that every life forms into a mosaic of intimate, largely unobserved details is the story most worth telling. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Its protagonists' hearts aren't lawless so much as stuck in various states of quiet desperation, and the modest charms of this observant, affecting film fortunately bear little relation to the sensationalistic label. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Tom Hollander gives a strong performance as the considerate and quietly grieving young man. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
One beautiful piece of work--as alert and aware a survey of interpersonal relations as you're likely to find at the movies this year. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's an intriguing experience. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Perfectly modulated in its tone and performances, Lawless Heart is content to be a small, quiet film. We could use a few more like it. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The purpose of the movie is perhaps to show us, in a quietly amusing way, that while we travel down our own lifelines, seeing everything from our own points of view, we hardly suspect the secrets of the lives we intersect with. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A little like a British Eric Rohmer film -- a lot of talk, and a lot of talk about love and relationships -- Lawless Heart has wit and a winning charm. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Solid acting and engaging characters round out the neatly assembled tale. Read full review
70
VarietyDerek Elley
This slyly humorous, cleverly constructed comedy-drama wends its way through different takes on similar time frames to a warm, inclusive ending. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The storytelling structure is far more interesting than the story itself. And the elegiac pictures of boats and water are, dismayingly, most engrossing of all. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Gimmickry is death to this sort of artsy endeavour -- it turns a movie with a small budget into a small movie. Read full review
63
New York PostV.A. Musetto
It takes a while to get used to the fractured narrative, but once done it is easy to put your mind on autopilot and go with the offbeat characters and events. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Despite its leisurely pace, this unpretentious, character-driven picture is a low-key charmer. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The result is a film that's honest and tepid, intelligent and dull, worthy and forgettable. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Like grieving itself, the film is awkward, messily honest, and sometimes darkly funny. Read full review
30
Film ThreatPhil Hall
About as funny as a funeral. Read full review
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