Life of Riley
Kino Lorber | Release Date: October 24, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyOct 24, 2014
Everything in Life of Riley, Resnais makes plain, is a contrivance. Much of the joy and beauty of the movie comes from letting the levels of contrivance fall into place, as with some Rube Goldberg contraption, creating a parallel abstract narrative to the more conventional semi-farcical one unfolding on screen. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineChuck BowenSep 2, 2014
Alain Resnais's overpoweringly beautiful final film dares to push through the ghosts that inhabit the present, standing between the pessimism of an ill-spent past and the optimism of an undefined future. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid ParkinsonMar 2, 2015
A final opportunity to see a master at work in this mischievously melancholic delight. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonOct 28, 2014
Resnais's lightheartedness is infectious as he dispenses with the cinematic "reality" he never quite trusted, shooting the six-person farce on obvious sets, with curtains for doors and flat theatrical lighting. Read full review
63
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeOct 22, 2014
Filmed on abstract sets, it’s full of playful touches, such as lines delivered in front of a screen that looks like a comic-strip panel, and glimpses of a mole puppet popping out from a fake lawn. Read full review
60
CineVuePatrick GambleMar 5, 2015
A postmodern experiment in both form and function, Life of Riley's rigidity can at times feel like its restricting its actors, leaving them unable to treads the boards with the same authority they would on the stage. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen HoldenOct 23, 2014
Life of Riley is neither especially profound nor riotously funny. An element of caricature is palpable in the performances but restrained. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid EhrlichOct 21, 2014
Shot when the director was 91 and finished just before he died in March, Alain Resnais’s third adaptation of an Alan Ayckbourn play is his gentlest attempt at using the artifice of theater to affirm the reality of imagination. Read full review
50
The DissolveMike D'AngeloOct 21, 2014
Where You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet added layers of meta-reflection to plays (by Jean Anouilh) that are terrific in their own right, Life Of Riley struggles in vain to find cinematic value in one of Alan Ayckbourn’s lesser efforts. Read full review
More From This Movie

70 Critic Reviews

5.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL