Michael
New Line Cinema | Release Date: December 25, 1996 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
5
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Director Nora Ephron and her co-writers, sister Delia plus Pete Dexter and Jim Quinlan (the latter two wrote the original story), bring a smart contemporary sensibility to the hokum, hilarity and heart-tugging that have made for many a classic Hollywood entertainment. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineStaff(not credited)
For a movie about all sorts of warm and gooey things -- faith, surrender to wonder, and the possibility of love in a hard, cold world -- it's got a bracingly astringent edge. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Michael doesn't set up big drama or punch up big moments. It ambles. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Before this turns to total mush, it's a quirky, fitfully effective fantasy periodically enlivened by the cast. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It's a little too low-key to be an effective romance and a little too soft to be anything more ambitious. Ultimately, it's neither offensive nor horrible; it's just another unspectacular, uninspired entry on Nora Ephron's erratic resume. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The movie is so busy applying cute touches to everything and everybody that it forgets to devote enough attention to the souls Michael has come down to save. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
The best movie she ever directed was "This Is My Life," a biting comedy she also wrote that was soundly defeated by both critics and audiences. I think she's lost her nerve and her edge ever since. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
But wouldn't it be heavenly if a like proportion of Tinseltown producers believed in an existing need for a good script. Because this one ain't good; in fact, it's hellishly mediocre, the kind that aims for holiday charm and settles for workaday torpor. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Nora Ephron's comedy tries to be sweet, hip, innocent, and sophisticated all at the same time, and it doesn't take long for these contradictory goals to cancel one another out. Read full review
40
EmpireCaroline Westbrook
The script is clichéd and uninspired, the tone veering uneasily between unamusing comedy and over-sincere drama, all theological issues are weakly circumvented and the characters hardly relate to each other, let alone to any of their onscreen activities. Read full review
38
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
Director/co-writer/co-producer Nora Ephron is best known for the magical Sleepless in Seattle. Michael is mirthless in the Midwest. [24 Dec 1996 Pg.03.D]
33
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The director, Nora Ephron, displays her peerless gift for making everything seem snappy and mushy at the same time, and Travolta's performance has a slovenly, I-can-do-anything-and-you'll-still-love-me obnoxiousness. Read full review
30
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The banality of the plot and the writing make the presence in the cast of the celebrated William Hurt, Andie MacDowell and Bob Hoskins all the more disheartening. [03 Mar 1997 Pg.30]
30
VarietyEmanuel Levy
John Travolta's charismatic screen presence is the only element that propels Michael over its rough narrative spots and scattered direction. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Nora Ephron directed it and had a hand in the screenplay, but without Travolta this film would have no reason for being. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
This kind of angel stuff is classic Hollywood fare, especially at Christmastime. Thus, it's all the more wonder that director Nora Ephron has missed and mishandled so many of her cues. Read full review
20
Washington PostDesson Thomson
After the disastrous "Mixed Nuts," her last holiday season folly, Ephron appears to have hunkered down for a career of pandering mediocrity. Read full review
20
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
John Travolta should realize that people appreciate him, maybe more than ever, but that he should start making movies people won't feel ashamed for having seen if he wants to avoid co-starring with a talking lemur in the future. Read full review
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