The One and Only Ivan
Disney+ | Release Date (Streaming): August 21, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 20, 2020
There are times the family-friendly slapstick comedy and heavy messaging about the heartbreak of animals in tight, dark, cold captivity don’t exactly mesh. But the visuals are truly impressive and the story has an uplifting arc, and oh do these actors have fun hamming it up. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzAug 19, 2020
The One and Only Ivan elevates its babbling baboons and erudite elephants to a level of graceful storytelling and emotional catharsis. The film might only be available to stream in the emptiness of your own home, but it has enough big-screen ambition that you can easily imagine it holding an entire theatre’s audience rapt. Read full review
75
IndieWireKate ErblandAug 18, 2020
It builds to a conclusion that, like the best parts of this film, combines movie-magic whimsy with hard-won realism, slipping some very grown-up ideas (and ideals) into a classic talking-animal charmer. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyMaureen Lee LenkerAug 18, 2020
Watching Ivan discover his love of art is intoxicating, too, particularly when his realization that he can use it to communicate results in a truly breathtaking tableau. The film’s genuine bursts of emotion, combined with the wry warmth of the vocal performances and the deftly realistic rendering of the CGI animals, give the project a silverback gorilla-sized heaping of heart. Read full review
73
TheWrapSteve PondAug 19, 2020
It helps that the voice cast is spot-on, that the animals themselves – none real, all CG – are seamlessly rendered and that Cranston underplays a character who could be much broader, funnier and less affecting. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 1, 2020
Thanks to Thea Sharrock’s graceful direction, this live-action movie never feels heavy-handed, speaking to its young audience without talking down to them. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshAug 20, 2020
Sharrock’s directing is unshowy, focused on the characters and performance moments that make this film a simple, yet effectively moving story about dreaming of a life beyond the walls, something we can all appreciate at this particular moment. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanAug 19, 2020
The story takes no outsize turns, no big surprise twists. Perhaps the only surprise is how touching it is: a tale that will caress you, and your children, in a way that speaks to something true. It reminds you of what it’s like to be moved by a kids’ film that’s driven by more than nonstop movement. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenAug 18, 2020
Jolie, who also serves as producer along with Brigham Taylor and the late Allison Shearmur, invests her fragile pachyderm with a gentle, world-weary wisdom, while Cranston makes you feel his world crumbling beneath him in a performance that could have easily flirted with cartoon villainy in less accomplished hands. Read full review
65
PolygonPetrana RadulovicAug 27, 2020
Though the plot beats of The One and Only Ivan are predictable, given that it’s a story about sad caged animals, there’s enough genuine emotion threaded through the formulaic story to make the movie enjoyable, surpassing some otherwise cheesy moments. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyAug 19, 2020
All the animals are computer-generated, not that you’d know it by looking at them. Their interactions with the human characters are seamless — and, it must be said, at times the animal characters come across as less cartoony than the human ones. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJake CoyleAug 18, 2020
The real story of Ivan is more interesting even if it’s probably too dispiriting and shameful for a Disney movie. At the same time there’s some awkwardness in relating such an animal-rights tale with fart jokes and a celebrity voice ensemble. Read full review
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