Love Liza
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment | Release Date: December 30, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
11
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Hoffman's acting is poignant and compassionate, etching a profoundly sad character with no trace of compromise, and Bates gives one of her most controlled performances ever. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Hoffman's touchingly fractured performance gives the picture a warm dimension. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Provides Hoffman with what he's long deserved: a movie of his own. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Me, I’ve now seen the movie three times and I’ve laughed and I’ve cried. It comes the closest to any movie experience I’ve had in re-creating the aftermath of unexplained suicide. Sometimes there just aren’t any answers. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie proceeds with a hypnotic relentlessness that hesitates between horror and black comedy. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
An oddly endearing little chamber piece that provides a terrific showcase for Hoffman, surely the best actor who has never been nominated for an Oscar. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
A downbeat but oddly affectionate tale. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Todd Louiso's directorial debut emerges at once as compelling and as a bit of a specimen due to the entirely singular nature of the protagonist's behavior. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
"Dark and demanding" doesn't begin to describe this devastating film -- It is not too much to say that without its splendid use of music Love Liza might not be bearable. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
May frustrate as many viewers as it delights (if not more) and it is almost relentlessly depressing, but it's also a principled, sharply realistic film that captures a highly convincing vision of Middle America. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
Quirkily sad, unexpectedly funny -- and just a tad repetitive. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Less a story than a film of emotional textures, this is a study in stasis. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Louiso has a confident touch and a good eye, and there isn't a scene in the film that wasn't intelligently done. Besides Hoffman's near-great performance as Joel, there isn't a bad or mediocre acting job on view either. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
It's a great performance that's a horror to watch. Of all the bleak year-end movies, Love Liza is the bleakest; of all the sad characters you've seen lately, Hoffman's Wilson Joel is the saddest. And he goes home with you. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The movie is so small and emotionally constricted that it gives Hoffman too little room to explore his range. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Love Liza needs more than mood on its side. A moment of recognizable human behavior would have been a fine place to start. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
The misery is there, all right, in every woozy, spaced-out shot of Hoffman clutching his gas-soaked rag. But in the end, do we really care? Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Because the movie is about addictive behavior dulling the pain of grief rather than in the larger drama of dealing with grief, the movie reduces the scope of Hoffman's performance. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
In its component parts, then, Love Liza is essentially a battle between opposing clichés. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Hoffman acts the hell out of the role. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
I've heard it said that Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the most talented character actors currently working, can't carry a film himself, and unfortunately this indie feature isn't meaty enough to prove otherwise. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Everyone's work is heartfelt, heaven knows, but the script, by Mr. Hoffman's brother, Gordy Hoffman, gives the movie's star little but lugubriousness to play...eventually the whole thing seems to be running on fumes.
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Does have the enclosed, slightly overheated feel of a family theatrical. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Hoffman stores the plane fuel in his house and even enjoys sniffing it. The movie might be a lot more fun as a suspense pic were he to take on a roommate who chained-smoked. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The tone is inconsistent -- sometimes it seems to be straining for black comedy, other times it seems dead serious. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Sadly, the filmmakers haven't given viewers enough context or information about their protagonist to know whether he's utterly free or utterly unmoored -– or to care very much either way. Read full review
20
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
What should have been an idiosyncratic 20-minute short is distended by repetition and loads of standard indie-film time-killers. Read full review
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