The First Beautiful Thing
Palisades Tartan | Release Date: April 15, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerApr 14, 2011
Comedy and poignancy weave together in Mr. Virzì's hands, but the maudlin meter only occasionally goes into the red zone. And Ms. Pandolfi gives such an exquisitely understated performance that you don't realize until the very end that the film was as much about her character as it was about Bruno and Anna. Read full review
85
NPRElla TaylorApr 15, 2011
It's fair to say that men in general and ardent Catholics in particular don't come off well. Yet even they are humanized by the movie's merciful temper, and by a cast of damaged ancillary characters wearing eccentric goodwill on their sleeves. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 9, 2011
The First Beautiful Thing is the kind of movie - that escapes the sick room to cavort at carnivals and eat cotton candy until the inevitable relapse. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoApr 29, 2011
Italian audiences are bound to like it and the broadness of plot and appeal suggests casual fans of foreign film should, too. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 15, 2011
A streak of "Cinema Paradiso" runs through this Italian dramedy - and while it lacks that film's overflowing emotion, it's filled with its own artfulness and warmth. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterNatasha SenjanovicApr 12, 2011
Spans four decades of a troubled family with enough gentle pathos and sly humor to compensate for a less than original storyline. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichelle OrangeApr 12, 2011
Virzì's delicate touch and the cast's uniformly captivating performances make that reckoning a lovely, charmingly melancholy thing to watch. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. MusettoApr 15, 2011
Overall, however, it's sappy and predictable -- fun to watch, perhaps, but instantly forgettable. Read full review
50
VarietyJay WeissbergApr 12, 2011
Occasionally affecting but unremarkable, the picture's emotional moments are designed to pluck local heartstrings. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichApr 12, 2011
This was Italy's official submission for Best Foreign Film to the 2011 Academy Awards (a red flag more often than not), and, sure enough there's little here that rises above middlebrow. Read full review
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