Renoir
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: March 29, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 28, 2013
The movie, like its subject, refuses to stir up unnecessary melodrama. There are many small conflicts and psychological undercurrents, but the closest thing to a narrative theme is the effect Andrée has on the Renoir household. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle SmithMar 28, 2013
Like the paintings of the master, Renoir is beautiful to look at, but it would be a mistake to call the film (or its subject) shallow. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMay 2, 2013
There's something in this nostalgic, lovingly photographed film about the transition from the classical art of painting to the new art of the cinema, as embodied by one of the greatest practitioners of each. The independent-minded Andrée, who would go on to marry Jean Renoir and star in several of his early films, is presented as something more than a mere muse, if something less than a full-fledged character. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 25, 2013
One would expect a film about French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir to look beautiful, to be shot in warm, sumptuous colors. And one would not be disappointed in Gilles Bourdos’ Renoir. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 28, 2013
Renoir is a lush, involving film. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 9, 2013
Renoir may be too decorous, but it’s about decoration — the intense beauty of surfaces. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 3, 2013
Photography — and thus filmmaking — is painting with light. The connection is illuminated in the lovely Renoir, a twilight-years biography of the great French Impressionist. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 29, 2013
Renoir at least looks like a great movie. If you want a full-scale immersion in this material, I recommend “Renoir, My Father,” Jean Renoir’s wonderful 1958 biography. This book is the touchstone for all matters Renoir, both père and fils. Read full review
70
NPRMark JenkinsMar 28, 2013
Renoir doesn't present a particularly dynamic tale, and its attempts at stage-like drama — notably the sometimes epigrammatic dialogue — can seem overdone. But the performances are assured, the ambiance impeccable and the themes resonant. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 28, 2013
Renoir is so beautiful, and so intelligently conceived, that you keep waiting, in vain, for a bit of fire to break out in the narrative. Read full review
70
VarietyBoyd van HoeijMar 26, 2013
There is no major drama here save the encroaching end of one great artist and the birth of another, but Bourdos and his fellow screenwriters have translated something so monumental into a succession of such small domestic tableaux in which the Renoirs are seen as people first and artists second. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMar 26, 2013
Wisely, director Gilles Bourdos keeps the pace slow, what with all the tensions beneath the surface: Oedipal conflict, career choices, even class struggle. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMay 15, 2013
Renoir is beautifully filmed and scored, yet with the emotional pull of watching exquisitely textured oil paint dry. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam NaymanApr 11, 2013
Gilles Bourdos’s film is more conventional than its mould-breaking subjects deserve. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithJun 15, 2013
Veteran French actor Bouquet brings a lifetime of experience to his arthritic old master, though, while the frequently unclad Theret captivates and exasperates in equal measure. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsMiriam BaleMar 28, 2013
Unfortunately, for all the beauty, director Gilles Bourdos goes no further than simply observing surfaces. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMar 26, 2013
Although there is incident in the film's second half...it doesn't build to the level of compelling drama, leaving the film in a quiet, temperate realm that scarcely makes the pulse race. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMar 27, 2013
Ace cinematographer Mark Ping Bing Lee (In The Mood For Love) does a superb job of creating an Impressionist look, especially when shooting exteriors, but the film’s loveliness is skin-deep. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMay 15, 2013
Renoir is great at capturing some of the details of daily life within this unique household and conveying an Impressionist atmosphere on film, but as far as telling us a story, the film is a washout. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesKyle MacMillanApr 25, 2013
Bourdos’ high-minded aspirations are obvious, but his visually satisfying film is dramatically elusive. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 29, 2013
A syrupy drizzle of tasteful prettiness covers this cloying movie about the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet) and his film-maker son Jean Renoir (Vincent Rottiers). Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 26, 2013
At least Mark Ping Bing Lee’s luscious cinematography distracts from the shallow storytelling. There are worse things than luxuriating in a two-hour Côte d’Azur travel ad. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneMar 29, 2013
A long string of picnics, portrait sessions, elaborate dinners, and countryside rituals, filtered through a svelte aesthetic pleasantness that ultimately corrodes its larger interests. Read full review
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