The Eye of the Storm
Sycamore Entertainment | Release Date: September 7, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Village VoiceNick SchagerSep 4, 2012
Narrative unevenness notwithstanding, those hang-ups are given delicious life by a superb Rush, Davis, and Rampling (the latter often confined to a bed and encased in elderly makeup), who prove a regally dysfunctional trio par excellence. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMegan Lehmann Sep 4, 2012
An intelligent, visually sumptuous drama that embraces the grandeur of the Australian literary classic upon which it's based. Read full review
73
NPRStephanie ZacharekSep 7, 2012
There's a quiet audaciousness about it. Schepisi still seems to believe that if you tell a good story in an artful, straightforward way, people will come to it. He may be wrong, but thank goodness he's still in there pitching. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerSep 7, 2012
Fred Schepisi, one of the world's great directors ("The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith," "A Cry in the Dark") is working at half-speed in The Eye of the Storm, a convoluted family drama derived from a Patrick White novel. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisSep 6, 2012
Whether she's lying in bed, her gray hair spilling out around her head, or exalting in existence itself during one of several flashbacks, Elizabeth draws you in, which works for the story and simultaneously unbalances it. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 6, 2012
Fred Schepisi's sly, stately comedy-drama that will please fans of BBC melodramas. But even on its own merits, its mild manner has sneaky stings. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfSep 4, 2012
Schepisi is deft with the social-strata stuff, introducing a large Gosford Park–like ensemble to tease out the central trio's dysfunction. So it's a shame that both book and film tilt away from the tart-tongued exchanges, giving increasing weight to a buried trauma that feels a little soggy. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoSep 14, 2012
The Eye of the Storm is performed with zest by a fine cast and offers some nicely biting moments but, in the end, falls short of its large ambitions. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickSep 7, 2012
Good acting and some very good scenes don't quite add up to a good film. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranSep 6, 2012
The Eye of the Storm is an ambitious stab at what might be called the Great Australian Film. The results are off-and-on impressive, but the project's ambitions turn out to be greater than its ability to achieve them. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceySep 4, 2012
For all the talent involved, The Eye of the Storm is an incident-stuffed but lacklustre affair – a case of lots of sturm, but not enough drang – that reaches for a satiric sting and emotional depth it never achieves. Read full review
40
VarietyRussell EdwardsSep 4, 2012
Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis bookend a cast consisting of some of Oz's finest thesps, but Schepisi never gets a grip on a script with awkward literary tics. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineBill WeberSep 4, 2012
This adaptation of a prize-winning Australian novel is a stodgy slog save for some sporadic moments of blunt force supplied by Judy Davis and Charlotte Rampling. Read full review
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