The Broken Circle Breakdown
Tribeca Film | Release Date: November 1, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJan 24, 2014
That's the kind of movie this is, the kind that sticks with you, that prods you to examine things. In the process, it reveals itself to be something of an emotional roller coaster -- but one well worth riding. Read full review
100
New York PostSara StewartNov 1, 2013
This Belgian drama is the real deal, an alternately wrenching and ecstatic viewing experience, adapted from a play by lead actor Johan Heldenbergh. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnOct 31, 2013
You couldn't ask for a more appropriate genre of music to carry a movie. As Didier explains the bluegrass appeal, "the banjo sort of snarls," bringing a primal form of energy that even he can't put into words. It's also the element that manages to rescue "Broken Circle" from the meandering nature of its structural looseness, which sometimes distracts from a thoroughly involving story. Read full review
89
Film.comWilliam GossOct 31, 2013
A superb tearjerker in between beautiful bluegrass ballads. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesBruce IngramJan 23, 2014
Director Felix Van Groeningen takes a story that might be too much to bear in a straightforward, linear narrative and explodes it, then artfully reassembles the pieces by jumping back and forth in time. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaNov 15, 2013
Rare, too, is the way The Broken Circle Breakdown incorporates music into its narrative. The songs - traditional bluegrass and country, and a clutch of new ones rooted in same - are as integral to the characters and their relationships as the dialogue. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comJoyce KulhawikNov 1, 2013
It's a rich, raw, heartache of a film, a beautifully composed, soul-stirring drama about love, family, sex, sorrow, faith, and music. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanDec 5, 2013
It’s possible the movie’s actually too unflinching; there are moments where your nose is dangerously close to being rubbed in this pile of emotional trauma. Then again, when you come from the same country as the Dardennes brothers, you’ve got to pull out all the stops to compete in the misery department. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubKyle RyanOct 30, 2013
Once viewers adjust to the cognitive dissonance between intense Flemish dialogue and English performances of country and bluegrass songs,The Broken Circle Breakdown is a film that will likely stick with them long after the credits roll. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJessica KiangJul 9, 2013
While Felix von Groeningen's film, which centers around a couple whose child is diagnosed with cancer, could easily have strayed into maudlin territory, the deft, non-chronological structure and the constantly surprising, beautiful performances -- both acting and the musical -- elevate it well clear of any Movie of the Week associations. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanNov 1, 2013
This movie has one of the finest final scenes in a movie this year and, if there were justice, Baetens would break out as an international star. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 17, 2013
A tough, vital, electrifying film. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezDec 5, 2013
The Broken Circle Breakdown manages to pull off a small miracle, using joyous music and tenderness to tell a tragic story that moves you but doesn’t depress you. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryNov 14, 2013
With its exquisite depictions of suffering, The Broken Circle Breakdown is not always easy to watch. But, as in life, sometimes there’s beauty to be found in the pain. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 5, 2013
Bouncing back and forth in time and emotional space, The Broken Circle Breakdown contains moments of beauty, power and tragedy, but the constant churning sometimes leaves the film without a solid foundation. Ah, but then there’s the music, soaring bluegrass performed with passion and talent. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneNov 6, 2013
Heldenbergh owns the role, holding the camera's gaze with ease. The look and the sound of him hark back to Kris Kristofferson, but there is a hint of Nick Nolte, too, around the eyes--unfazed by the world, yet easily bewildered by its wiles. [11 Nov. 2013, p.91]
70
The DissolveKeith PhippsOct 30, 2013
At its best, The Broken Circle Breakdown has the feel of life as it’s remembered—moments out of time tethered together by the feelings of those living them. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJon FroschOct 29, 2013
The Broken Circle Breakdown crashes as frequently as it soars, but the ache at its center feels real. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleLouis BlackDec 4, 2013
Ultimately, the film’s many charms drown somewhat under crushingly sad events. Still, there is redemption in the chemistry between the two lead characters, their passions and complexity, as well as in the grace of the music as it is performed and how it is used. Read full review
63
Boston GlobePeter KeoughNov 14, 2013
Despite the music, and no matter how the film’s editors slice it, the attempt to get a rise out of the audience by way of the endangered child device verges on emotional pornography. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyNov 7, 2013
Like the Irish film "Once," it’s a drama about the lives of musical performers who sing songs within the film to illustrate the emotional journey of a relationship. Broken Circle, though, is painted in much darker hues. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 7, 2013
"Breakdown" gets the music right and has the benefit of strong acting, but its unapologetically melodramatic plot has a tendency to throw everything at you but the kitchen sink. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 31, 2013
[A] touching love story and soggy family melodrama. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid FearOct 29, 2013
Both Baetens and Heldenbergh do their best to sell the story’s ups and downs even when the narrative gets bogged down with science-versus-religion ranting, yet you’re still left with a movie a little too reliant on playing clawhammer on your heartstrings. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeOct 15, 2013
Heldenbergh and Baetens pull you in with committed performances ­– their raw pain and grief is totally believable. But all that honest, intense emotion is thrown away as the film outstays its welcome by 40 minutes or so, piling one tragedy on to another. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 23, 2013
The non-linear structure works extremely well, making the drama a bracing emotional roller coaster of feel-good/feel-bad turns. Read full review
60
VarietyBoyd van HoeijSep 23, 2013
Sophisticated cutting brings out the story’s complex emotional undercurrents, though “Breakdown’s” less convincingly scripted second half sputters more often than it shines. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoNov 21, 2013
It's the story of a young married couple undone by a family tragedy, but the film loses its way, at one point turning into a political harangue. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineWes GreeneOct 29, 2013
Felix Van Groeningen's film owes more than a debt to the unwieldy narrative schematics of Susanne Bier's narratives. Read full review
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