Marvin's Room
Miramax Films | Release Date: December 18, 1996 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Nonetheless, Marvin's Room is not only sharply written and well-acted, but it's also the rare sort of film that takes an honest and uncompromising look at death and dying. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The famous faces make it difficult, at first, to sink into the story, but eventually we do; the characters become so convincing that even if we're aware of Keaton and Streep, it's as if these events are happening to them. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Yet, even on those occasions when the screenplay falters, the actors are there to take up the slack. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
Inspirationalism wafts off the screen in little perfumed puffs. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
Marvin's Room, the 1991 Scott McPherson play, filmed by Jerry Zaks, is an old-fashioned weepie of noble mien with many bright moments and a superb cast. Read full review
80
VarietyEmanuel Levy
The whole film is laced with shards of humor and irony, which proves helpful, considering the basically downbeat nature of the material. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Any movie with Meryl Streep is an occasion, but when you add Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hume Cronyn and Gwen Verdon, you've got an embarrassment of riches. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Add to that a perfect cast and one's only complaint will be that this is, at heart, another tear-jerker about how good it is to love and be alive and all of that. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The three are so full-bodied and so powerfully affecting that you're carried along on the pleasure of being in the presence of their extraordinary talent. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Yet, about as often as Marvin's Room strikes a chord of emotional authenticity, it hits a fistful of false notes as well. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (not credited)
Tony Award-winning stage director Jerry Zaks' debut feature is a gentle, surprisingly funny film about dying that manages to tug a few heartstrings without the usual emotional manhandling. Read full review
75
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
Keaton doesn't stoop to bitter-spinster blather. Instead, the luminous vulnerability that served her well in such dramas as "Shoot the Moon" lights up this depressing, gallows-humored heart-tugger. [18 Dec 1996, Pg.01.D]
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
With Rachel Portman's music tugging too hard for tears, the movie sometimes comes dangerously close to being the soap opera McPherson worked so hard to disguise. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Though comedy is an intrinsic part of the play, director Zaks has not found a way to translate it effectively on screen. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
This film often fumbles, but it finally tugs at the heartstrings all the same. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
But for most audiences, this bittersweet family saga is going to feel like an ordeal. Read full review
60
EmpireBob McCabe
Great actors do what they can in a simple and largely unaffecting story. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderStaff (not credited)
Perfect acting by Keaton and Streep outshines the screenplay by Scott McPherson (who wrote the original play), even as the performances are overwhelmed by cinematography so gorgeous and distracting it makes the drama seem like just so much wheel spinning. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The story often seems unfocused, and the talented cast doesn't appear to be fully in synch with its heart-wrenching material. Read full review
10
Washington PostEric Brace
Keaton and DiCaprio manage to bring several levels of emotion to their characters, but everyone else is a cardboard cut-out. Read full review
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