The Illusionist
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 25, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallFeb 9, 2011
The soundtrack is a small marvel of music hall tunes and dialogue that is mostly garbled, allowing expressions and body language to be interpreted. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 27, 2011
A handcrafted jewel of a movie, The Illusionist understands the illusions that sustain us in youth and that we have to let slip in the end. It's the rare work of art that cherishes both the magic and the trick. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJan 20, 2011
Gorgeous, and full of bittersweet whimsy. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliJan 14, 2011
This is a remarkable movie: lovely, slow-paced and almost silent, rich with pathos and deft comic gestures. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJan 12, 2011
However much it conceals the real-life events that inspired it, it lives and breathes on its own, and as an extension of the mysterious whimsy of Tati. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 23, 2010
Exquisite images, poignant humor, echoes of cinema history and a sense of having watched genuine magic. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 21, 2010
A breathtakingly beautiful achievement in every way. Read full review
100
ObserverRex ReedDec 20, 2010
A true masterpiece of visual enchantment. One of the most original and unique geniuses in cinema today, Mr. Chomet directed, wrote, illustrated and composed the music for this holiday jewel, an homage to the sweet, sad melancholia of the legendary French comic Jacques Tati. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn LevyJan 27, 2011
Simple enough for children, deep enough for adults, clever enough for cynics. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayDec 25, 2010
The result is one beautiful movie-and no less so for making a strong case that beauty is a lie. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumDec 20, 2010
The many fans of the uniquely droll 2003 animation Oscar nominee "The Triplets of Belleville" will recognize the inventive hand-drawn sensibilities of French filmmaker Sylvain Chomet in his loving and lovely new feature The Illusionist. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 3, 2011
Chomet's defiantly two-dimensional artwork is warm, inviting, beautiful, establishing immediately a comfort level, at least for audiences of, ahem, a certain age. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 24, 2010
There is something magical about The Illusionist's world, and that's as it should be. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovFeb 10, 2011
Absolutely mandatory viewing for aspiring animators and filmmakers. (In terms of pacing, scoring, editing, and narrative, it's a film school unto itself.) For the rest of us, however, it's simply magic. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJan 28, 2011
The Illusionist has surprises up its sleeve that are unusually nuanced for an animated movie. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 13, 2011
Chomet himself has written the gentle waltz theme and other music. The piece glides by, effortlessly. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesJan 13, 2011
The dialogue is multilingual but largely incidental to the action; the physical comedy is gracefully rendered and often magical. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDec 25, 2010
If this lovely tribute sends viewers in search of the real thing, that would be a neat trick indeed. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. HobermanDec 23, 2010
For its 80 minutes, the movie creates the illusion that not just Tati but his form of cerebral slapstick lives. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichDec 22, 2010
Chomet builds this beguiling symphony of sadness to a poignant finale that does ample justice to the many layers of Tati's tale, both in text and out. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazineRichard MoweDec 17, 2010
For all lovers of old style animation it should build up the same cultish following as "Triplets." Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreFeb 9, 2011
Like Tati himself, The Illusionist feels like a relic of a different time. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryFeb 4, 2011
It's enough to make you laugh if you didn't feel like crying. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJan 21, 2011
Though something less than a masterpiece, The Illusionist is a rare animated film of fleeting charms rather than loud noises, aimed more at wistful adults than thrill-hungry kids. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissDec 25, 2010
I wish I found The Illusionist as pleasing to sit through (twice) as to write about. I'm glad there's a "new" "Tati" film to add to his small, important body of work, yet I wish that the creator of "The Triplets of Belleville" had made a true Chomet film instead. I'll be waiting for that, with a hope to be found nowhere in this handsome, airless movie. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 25, 2010
The Illusionist is both a modest homage to its writer and a melancholy look at a lost world. Read full review
63
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottFeb 25, 2011
A beautifully uncomplicated story, really -- about the love between daddies and their little girls. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanFeb 10, 2011
He (Chomet) keeps us waiting for a narrative payoff that will equal that visual splendor, and he makes us think that many small inspired touches will add up to something memorable. But when he opens his hand at last, there's nothing in it. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezFeb 10, 2011
The movie's second half, which grows progressively sadder, also starts to feel a bit repetitive. Read full review
60
MovielineStephanie ZacharekDec 21, 2010
The animation itself is technically gorgeous, a class act all the way. But there's so little to be found in the faces of the characters, or even in the way their limbs move (much of it adopted, cleverly enough, from Tati's own physical style), that it's not clear what we're supposed to feel for them. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithDec 25, 2010
Since this low-grade comedy doesn't really even attempt to be funny, the purpose of the movie is to establish (or reinforce) a feeling of luxurious old-timey melancholy. Read full review
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