The Forger
Lionsgate | Release Date: April 24, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
32
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
5
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
58
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 23, 2015
The art-heist plot is pretty by-the-numbers, but Travolta nearly saves it with his doomed air of paternal helplessness. He makes you feel the weight of being at the mercy of forces bigger than oneself. At 61, he still possesses something rare, even in rote material like this. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiApr 24, 2015
It is nowhere close to being the worst thing that he (Travolta) has ever done, but it never for a single moment makes a plausible case for its own existence. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 23, 2015
In attempting to spin out its competing storylines, the crime drama The Forger never quite gets a handle on either one. Still, an array of strong performances, including a well-calibrated turn by John Travolta, and compelling emotional moments help counter the patchy narrative. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyApr 23, 2015
The Forger wants to be many things: gritty crime thriller, heist picture, domestic drama. Family bonds get “forged,” too, right? Director Philip Martin, who’s mainly done British TV work, is best known for “Prime Suspect 7.” Martin keeps things moving a little too briskly, perhaps. Scenes generally feel underdeveloped, and transitions abrupt. Read full review
40
Village VoiceChris PackhamApr 23, 2015
The film works marginally well as the story of a broken family trying to heal itself, but the third act is a whole different movie. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 23, 2015
Even with a terminally ill teenage son character, a pill-popping absentee mother and a crotchety grandpa character, The Forger is consistently ineffective as a sentimental tearjerker — and an even bigger failure as a heist movie. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickApr 22, 2015
Soggy, strictly by-the-numbers crime thriller. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 21, 2015
Among that promising cast, only Plummer and Ehle give us anything more than paint-by-numbers turns. Travolta? He’s a pale imitation of himself, as ill-fitted to the role as that odd prison soul patch he sports under Ray’s carefully streaked mop of hair. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChuck BowenApr 19, 2015
A sluggish, obvious fusion of a disease-of-the-week tearjerker with a comedic family crime romp that abounds in stiflingly over-emphasized Boston-crime-movie details. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloApr 23, 2015
Nicolas Cage at least manages to bring the occasional jolt of electricity to disposable genre tripe like this. Travolta is practically comatose. Read full review
30
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 23, 2015
Preposterousness is not necessarily a vice, and plausibility is a weak virtue. Just ask Alfred Hitchcock. So to say that the conceits of The Forger (directed by Philip Martin) are ridiculous isn’t really saying much. It’s also dull, incoherent and drab to look at. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyApr 23, 2015
While director Martin keeps the film moving, its implausibilities turn from holes into canyons. Read full review
30
VarietyDennis HarveyApr 23, 2015
Nothing feels fresh here — not even Christopher Plummer hamming it up as a crusty-coot grandpa — and Philip Martin’s routinely polished direction only underscores the cliche-composting of Richard D’Ovidio’s script. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyApr 23, 2015
Occasionally a movie comes along that’s such an awkward compilation of ideas it fascinates: The Forger, a Boston-set melodrama involving cancer, Impressionist art and deadbeat dads, is only about half that good. Read full review
25
The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicMar 6, 2015
Uninspired films utilizing cinematic devices that felt old decades ago are a regrettable part of the cinematic viewing experience, and The Forger squarely falls into this category. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 23, 2015
Travolta’s face looks immobile, while Plummer and Jennifer Ehle, as Cutter’s estranged, strung-out wife, look out of place. Sheridan (“The Tree of Life”), though, does seems comfortable in a movie where the colors blur sloppily. Read full review
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