The Angels' Share
Sundance Selects | Release Date: April 12, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Michael PosnerMay 17, 2013
There might be a pretty good film lurking in this latest dramedy from the veteran Scottish directing-writing team of Ken Loach and Paul Laverty. I use the conditional because at least half the dialogue is delivered in a Glaswegian Scots so thick, it might as well have been Urdu. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 3, 2013
At its heart, this is a compassionate character study. Robbie’s tenderness toward his son and his remorse for a street fight are the raw ingredients of a ripening consciousness. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleLeah ChurnerMay 1, 2013
I’m afraid there’s more than 2% evaporation going on in Loach’s latest. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoApr 25, 2013
Our advice: Forgive any conflicting elements and just drink them right down. They might be a peculiar blend, but they’re well crafted, just as you’d expect from Loach. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 18, 2013
Brannigan is terrific as Robbie, and the entire supporting cast is superb. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 12, 2013
The film itself vaporizes before your eyes, but it’s likable. Given its unstable mishmash of thuggery and whimsy, that’s something of an achievement. Read full review
88
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeApr 11, 2013
At age 76, Loach also decided to offer his characters, and audience, some hope — at the bottom of a glass. Read full review
75
NPRElla TaylorApr 11, 2013
Leaving this improbably feel-good movie, you'll wish Robbie all the luck in the world, and the mentors to go with it. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 11, 2013
The Angels' Share leaves a warm glow. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 11, 2013
Ken Loach better watch out. From the start of his illustrious career his name has been synonymous with left-wing politics expressed in remarkably fine, consistently serious social-realist dramas, most of them set in England or Scotland. Now he has gone and directed a comedy from a script by his longtime collaborator Paul Laverty, and it's so delightful that his fans will be clamoring for more. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen HoldenApr 11, 2013
Watching it is like receiving a hard slap in the face from someone who expects you to laugh it off, even though the sting lingers. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 11, 2013
The setting and themes are pure Loach, and he’s handled comic scenarios with skill before. But he and his longtime screenwriter, Paul Laverty, have added a lighthearted buoyancy — enhanced by a spirited if obvious soundtrack — that might lead some to call this a feel-good crowd-pleaser. Read full review
30
Film.comJordan HoffmanApr 10, 2013
The prolific 76-year-old British creator of character-rich, social dramas steeped in natural realism (usually) has whiffed it and whiffed it hard with this one. It’s not that it’s just “lesser Loach.” It is, in my opinion at least, humiliating. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloApr 10, 2013
The cast is immensely appealing, the heist is ingenious, and the collision of hardscrabble working-class kids and Sideways-style alcohol snobs generates steady laughs, though somewhat predictable ones. Read full review
50
Village VoiceCalum MarshApr 9, 2013
When The Angels' Share suddenly transforms, in its final act, into a kind of farcical heist picture, that fleeting slapstick tendency wins out, regrettably diminishing the film's social consciousness in the process. Read full review
60
Time OutEric HynesApr 9, 2013
Loach coaxes an endearingly poised performance out of nonprofessional Brannigan, and largely sells these scuffling characters as neither hopeless nor heroic—just terribly human. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinApr 8, 2013
The Angels’ Share is a rare upbeat Ken Loach comedy — and a wee dram of bliss. Set in Scotland, it has a blessedly funny overture. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesSteven BooneApr 5, 2013
Loach's realism always carries a distinct sense of humor, volatility and, most alarmingly in this hypercapitalist new century, a socialist passion for The People. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianGrant ButlerApr 5, 2013
Although some of the accents are so thick it's difficult to understand the dialogue (where are the subtitles when we need them?) the performances feel genuine. Read full review
70
VarietyLeslie FelperinApr 5, 2013
An amiable comedy about young Glaswegian roughnecks discovering the world of whisky, The Angels’ Share finds helmer Ken Loach and long-term screenwriting partner Paul Laverty in better, breezier form than their rebarbative prior effort, “Route Irish.” Read full review
50
Slant MagazineGlenn Heath Jr.Apr 5, 2013
Ken Loach's breezy scribble about lowlife redemption and drunken buffoonery isn't so much heavy-handed as it is charmingly weightless. Read full review
42
The PlaylistMar 2, 2013
Some good laughs and a passable air of bonhomie do nothing to cover up the fact that The Angels’ Share is totally lightweight and distractingly underdone. Read full review
60
EmpireKim NewmanMar 2, 2013
Like good whisky, Loach is mellowing and becoming subtler with age — though a swift chug still has a bit of a kick. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 2, 2013
Ken Loach's latest collaboration with screenwriter Paul Laverty is warm, funny and good-natured. It's a freewheeling social-realist caper – unworldly and at times almost childlike. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonMar 2, 2013
A few clumsy touches do not seriously diminish the charm of a film that is ultimately a heart-warming celebration of kindness, friendship and forgiveness. Like a fine whisky, the angry old man of British social realism seems to be mellowing with age. It suits him. Read full review
80
Total FilmStaff [Not Credited]Mar 2, 2013
For all its bleak edges, The Angels’ Share warms like a sip of the good stuff. Read full review
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