Seven Days in Utopia
Utopia Pictures | Release Date: September 2, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
11
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallAug 31, 2011
In addition to being one of the finest golf movies ever, this film raises the bar on faith-based cinema. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyAug 29, 2011
Duvall can play an avuncular cowboy sage in his sleep, but there's truly no one on Earth you'd rather see dishing out homespun aphorisms, so it's pointless to resist the pleasure of watching him do what he can do better than anyone else. Baker and Melissa Leo, as the waitress' mom, are not asked to exhibit a fraction of their talent, but they further class the joint up. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerSep 2, 2011
It's a lot more cornball – i.e., enjoyable – than "The Tree of Life," which tried for some of the same things. Utopia, with its big blue skies and peachy-keen people, may not rank right up there with Shangri-La, but it's close enough. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenSep 1, 2011
Though the drama has its heartfelt moments, it unrolls as flat as the Texas terrain, cast in an idyllic summer glow. Read full review
60
VarietyAndrew BarkerAug 30, 2011
Provides little more than a pleasantly passable Christian sports parable delivered as a sort of Texan golfer's version of "The Karate Kid." Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickSep 2, 2011
Seven Days in Utopia obviously isn't targeted at us cynical New Yorkers. But it goes down more smoothly than you'd imagine thanks to Duvall and an excellent supporting cast. Read full review
50
Washington PostSean OConnellSep 1, 2011
With all due respect to Cook's novel, another book - the Bible - teaches us that on the seventh day, God gave it a rest. Seven Days in Utopia should have followed His lead. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaSep 1, 2011
Until Seven Days in Utopia sucker punches you with a surfeit of faith-based platitudes, its upbeat brand of golf mysticism isn't altogether unappealing. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 1, 2011
Told in such predictable and bland fashion it dulls the effect. And this in a movie with Robert Duvall, Lucas Black and Melissa Leo. Read full review
50
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreAug 31, 2011
Lacks surprises. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEric HynesAug 30, 2011
For a time, the film shoulders its hokum rather well, with Black strutting convincingly and Duvall's mouthy mugging mostly in check. But all those shots of heavenly shafts of light eventually climax in unabashed Christian conversion. Read full review
40
SalonGary M. KramerSep 2, 2011
Seven Days in Utopia is flawed in so many ways -- the editing, writing, acting and Matthew Dean Russell's direction are uniformly weak -- that this well-intentioned film does its positive messages a disservice. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 2, 2011
There's a climactic putt, of course, but by then you wish Duvall would get one more "Tender Mercies" under his belt so you can forget about this tin cup of a family flick. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderBen SachsSep 1, 2011
If the combination of Christian bromides and golf tips strikes you as a recipe for boredom, stay away. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezAug 31, 2011
God bless Robert Duvall. An American cinematic institution, our greatest living actor makes the fortune-cookie bromides of Matthew Dean Russell's Seven Days in Utopia sound like Yates. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen HoldenSep 1, 2011
A stultifying hybrid of athletic instruction film and Christian sermon. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovSep 1, 2011
For one thing, Seven Days in Utopia feels an awful lot like Victor Salva's 2006 New Age uplifter "Peaceful Warrior." That film at least had the appeal of watching Nick Nolte play Yoda, whereas here Duvall simply seems to be playing Duvall. Read full review
30
Boxoffice MagazineNick SchagerAug 30, 2011
A squishy Hallmark Channel-level melodrama that rarely bothers to mask its propagandistic intentions. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliSep 1, 2011
Until its final seconds, Seven Days in Utopia is just a piece of gee-whiz, G-rated, nicely shot evangelism outfitted as a golf movie. Then it cuts away at the pivotal moment that's normally the life's blood of inspirational sports dramas - and becomes something vastly more obnoxious. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasAug 31, 2011
Not a second of it is convincing - or compelling - but then the film is about "utopia," a blandly idealized place unblemished by hardship, malice, sin, or errant golf strokes. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertAug 31, 2011
I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again. Read full review
20
Time OutAndrew SchenkerAug 30, 2011
Director Matt Russell shamelessly pitches woo to the already converted with an unholy barrage of heavy-handed flashbacks and phony Christian uplift. If any film ever needed a mulligan…. Read full review
12
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisSep 1, 2011
The movie is terrible partly because it's badly written, directed, and conceived and partly because it lacks the necessarily thematic coherence to accomplish proselytism of any kind. Read full review
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