Writer of O
Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: May 4, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
7
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Touching and sentimental. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The movie is a fascinating, if often confusing, mix of dramatized scenes from the novel, re-created and actual interviews with Desclos. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The real reason to see this slight but interesting documentary is to watch and listen to the radiant Aury. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
This gulf between a woman's public and private faces is an intensely rich subject that Rapaport glosses over. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
No voice is more vivid than that of the writer of O, who died in 2002. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
An elegant but muddled affair, worth seeing despite (and maybe because of) its own split personality. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis Harvey
Hodgepodge of archival, re-enactment and staged fictive elements. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
More speculative than deeply felt. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
Even smut can be dull. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
It is a mash note from first-time filmmaker Pola Rapaport to Aury, but its attempts to dramatize passages of the book are at odds with Aury's advice that "Story of O" was a piece of writing "not meant to be spoken." Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
A dry compendium of talking-head interviews. Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A most unfortunate film that combines standard documentary techniques, including talking-head interviews, with some maladroit dramatizations from Aury's life and her novel. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Pola Rapaport's slender documentary-cum-reconstruction Writer of O disappoints in its workmanlike approach to such fragrant material. Read full review
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