Rory O'Shea Was Here
Focus Features | Release Date: February 4, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Buddy movies are a Hollywood staple, but Rory O'Shea Was Here puts a new and profoundly affecting spin on the tired genre. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Superbly acted. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Sweet and deeply moving. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Funny and moving, and more entertaining than some of the movies you are considering this weekend. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
It addresses the essential human need for dignity, for freedom, for mastery over one's life. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
O'Donnell's directing is assured and glossy as befits a former maker of television commercials, and Jeffrey Caine's exuberant script sidesteps cliché -- just. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Better than the usual three-stage journey of courage, heartbreak and redemption. In this case, the triumph of the human spirit comes with a small bitter chaser. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
The kind of inspirational movie that actually earns its crowd-rousing response as opposed to merely pushing the same old, emotion-coaxing buttons. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
If there's such a thing as freedom for everyone, Rory's determined to give the prospect its most grueling road test. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Constrained by formula but executed with heart and humor. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
As a feel-good movie about disabled youths, Rory O'Shea Was Here gets the job done, but it isn't interesting or daring enough to make it worth a trip to a theater. Read full review
60
Film ThreatDaniel Wible
A harmless little charmer with a uniformly fine cast, played by the numbers for full tear-jerking effect. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJessica Winter
A plea for equality of opportunity, a worthy objective somewhat obscured by non-disabled actors occupying the lead roles. In any case, one imagines Rory himself would prefer a Farrelly disability blooper reel. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
It wants to humanize the plight of the disabled, but it undermines its worthy aims by presenting its leads as martyrs and saints. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A shameless heart-tugger of considerable appeal that, like many movies that start off with much going for them, could have been so much better had its makers aimed higher. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Perhaps a better moniker would have been "One Flew Over My Left Foot." Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Rory O'Shea Was Here gazes at the physically afflicted and just about begs for our sympathy long after we've grown restless and eager to feel something else. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The manipulative climax works, even as you feel like the jerk in tear-jerking. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Talented as they are, the wheelchair-bound stars of Rory O'Shea Was Here can't transcend a manipulative script.
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
McAvoy is unerringly charming as Rory, a man who quickly discerns and dismisses well-meaning condescension. So one can't help wondering what he would think of this film, whose sentimentality comes across as smug. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Grows ever more manipulative and predictable. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
McAvoy does his best with this subpar, heart-tugging material. At times his mix of easy charm and inner demon pulls Rory out from under the tired script, but those pesky dramatic forces keep pushing him back in for every predictable plot development. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The script, despite doses of irreverent humour, feels manipulative, and the music is oblivious to nuance, with a spectacular misuse of Johnny Cash singing "Hurt." Read full review
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