The Fencer
California Film Institute, The | Release Date: July 21, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaAug 31, 2017
Despite the film's predictable nature, it's hard not to become engaged. The performances are excellent and Härö directs with a clean hand, pushing toward a suspenseful, stirring climax that hinges on the team's success as well as Endel's freedom. Read full review
80
Total FilmPhilip KempNov 2, 2016
Acutely acted, The Fencer strikes home. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDavid ClackSep 26, 2016
Props should go to director Klaus Härö for making such a predictable premise feel fresh and his cast of characters – from a suspicious, disapproving headmaster, to the foil-swinging kids – feel engaging. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonAug 24, 2017
The Fencer, directed by Klaus Haro, is basically a “Hoosiers” remake — a true story set in a 1950s small town, in which a coach with a mysterious past arrives to shape a rag-tag bunch of kids into tournament contenders (there’s even a halfhearted romance that seems thrown in at the last minute in both films) — but that’s OK. It’s a winner here, too. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinAug 17, 2017
Director Klaus Härö, working from a script by Anna Heinämaa, deftly captures the grayish gloom and day-to-day paranoia of postwar Soviet life, while infusing this absorbing tale with affecting emotion. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangDec 10, 2015
This well-acted, smoothly crafted drama tells a story of cross-generational bonding in the face of historical oppression, in touching if unsurprising fashion. Read full review
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