The Event
THINKFilm | Release Date: October 3, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
10
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Film ThreatEric Campos
A very important film that is as sad as it is uplifting. After viewing it you may just have a whole new appreciation for life. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Has such quiet power that it is actually not depressing, and the cast follows suit with Dukakis, Carver and Posey, rising to the occasion. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Writer-director Thom Fitzgerald -- his previous feature was "The Hanging Garden" -- has managed to make a comedy about assisted suicide that hardly feels black at all. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
There's a lot of talent on display here: Dukakis has never been better and once again Fitzgerald proves himself to be a filmmaker of unfailing sensitivity, capable of transforming what could have been distastefully flip or overly lachrymose into something humorous but deeply heartfelt. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
Aggressively drab and granular, the movie feels like a late-'80s AIDS passion play given an ill-fitting post-Sept. 11 makeover. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis Harvey
Middling drama about euthanasia, worked out through a sprawl of underdeveloped characters. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The topic is thought-provoking, the flashback-based structure is interesting, and there are surprising twists near the end. But there's also an overdose of sentimentality that badly dilutes the picture's impact. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
A dawdling affair that never finds its own rhythm. Early on, it gets lost in its own earnestness and never finds its way back. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Other than the terribly miscast Posey, the cast is solid, with Dukakis wrenching the heart as a mother tested to the max by her son's request. But the movie didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
A good edit would have allowed the film's worthy, obviously heartfelt, message to shine. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
It's a movie about a nice guy with a lot of friends who dies. It's not really about the wider tragedy the film aspires to represent. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
Just sit, feel a little blue and watch Parker Posey wander through New York in an ugly conservative suit. In "Blade," at least she'll get a snazzier wardrobe. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Intelligent, moving, but annoyingly self-satisfied. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeJanice Page
Dukakis gets off some of the film's best lines and keeps the worst from sinking the whole affair; Polley's role is limited, but her character's audition for a feminine hygiene commercial is by far the best thing here. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
As reasoning, this is manipulative -- as filmmaking, it’s dull. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
A deadly earnest, relentlessly solemn affair. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Despite its impeccable acting and subtle backdrop of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The Event lets its message overwhelm its emotion. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Heartfelt but interminable movie. Read full review
20
Village VoiceEd Gonzalez
Shot on crummy DV and told via flashbacks, the film largely plays out like a Reagan-era "Citizen Kane." Common sense wrecks even the film's funniest bit, and the director's nausea-inducing camera observes the hysteria in perpetual pan-and-scan. Read full review
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