The Man from Elysian Fields
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: September 27, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
12
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This is a grown-up movie, in its humor and in its wisdom about life. You need to have lived a little to understand the complexities of Tobias Allcott, who is played by James Coburn with a pitch-perfect balance between sadness and sardonic wit. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A shimmering fable of innocence and experience set in contemporary Los Angeles and Pasadena (its title is a nod to Virgil's "Aeneid"). Phillip Jayson Lasker's tartly knowing script, with the kind of witty dialogue that's all but vanished from American movies, recalls Hickenlooper's "The Low Life." Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Jagger the actor is someone you want to see again. Eat your heart out, Madonna. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Gregory Weinkauf
Sharp, smart and robustly engaging film.
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Until its conventional third act, Elysian Fields takes surprising turns. Garcia, Coburn and particularly Jagger surprise throughout. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Less a fantasy than a somber, enveloping mood piece, which is a large part of what makes it so strangely, irrationally compelling. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A fine cast further illuminates a felicitous script. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Is it just me or is Mick Jagger turning into John Hurt? Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Craggy oldsters Mick Jagger and James Coburn steal the show from the young uns in The Man From Elysian Fields, a mostly entertaining twist on the Faust story about a writer who sells himself cheap. Read full review
63
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Suffers from an air of frosty detachment and a disappointingly stiff performance from Jagger, who also provides an unnecessary voice-over narration. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's a movie that starts off nicely, offers two marvelous performances (by James Coburn and Mick Jagger) and then slowly, unaccountably loses itself. Read full review
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