Solaris
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: November 27, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
10
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Missing is most of Tarkovsky's contemplative and mystical poetry (which is why it's 90 minutes shorter), and added are some unfortunate Hollywood-style designer flashbacks -- The story is still strong and haunting, but I'd recommend seeing this, if at all, only after the Tarkovsky. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Even by the art film standards it apes, Solaris lacks conviction. And although it's meant to be restrained and free of emotional hysteria, the result is a movie that pretty much lies dead on the screen for an hour and a half. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Retooled into a sleek pop fable that doesn't bother to connect all its dots, the movie aspires to fuse the mystical intellectual gamesmanship of "2001: A Space Odyssey" with the love-beyond-the-grave romantic schmaltz of "Titanic," without losing its cool. It's a tricky balancing act that doesn't quite come off. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Soderbergh, in essence, has come up with a plodding and far less psychologically arresting version of ''Ghost.'' Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The real irony is that for all its integrity, the film isn't nearly as thought-provoking as Steven Spielberg's recent "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" or "Minority Report", and nowhere as entertaining. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Despite its undeniably pure and earnest intent, Solaris is equally undeniably an arid, dull affair that imposes and maintains a huge distance between the viewer and what happens onscreen. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
If Soderbergh set out to make a galvanizing conversation piece, he has certainly succeeded. But this cold, occasionally dull movie practically defies you to embrace it. Read full review
40
The New YorkerDavid Denby
I know there are intelligent people who are awed by this sort of deep-dish magical mystery tour, but surely something is wrong with a movie when you can't tell a live character from a dead one and you don't care which is which. [9 December 2002, p. 142]
40
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It could hardly be called rip-roaring. I should report that it drives about a quarter of the audience out of the theater before it is half over. That's because it's slower than molasses in Siberia. Read full review
40
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Soderbergh, the writer and director, has slowed his metronome almost to a crawl, has repeated and delayed and protracted, in an attempt at depth. The net effect is a small paradox: incomprehensibility caused by drag, not by rush. Read full review
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