Yossi
Strand Releasing | Release Date: January 25, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
NPRElla TaylorJan 24, 2013
Funny, exuberant and shamelessly seductive, Yossi is an unabashedly populist entertainment with a spirit conciliatory enough to melt the heart of any naysayer. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleFeb 7, 2013
Predictable if measured uplift aside, Fox keeps Yossi effortlessly affecting, graced with deadpan humor and a knowingness about lonely lives. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJan 30, 2013
The extra weight that the actor has packed on gives him an air of vulnerability that makes his character's ultimate emergence from his seemingly impenetrable emotional shell all the more moving. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonJan 23, 2013
For many of the film's brisk 84 minutes, Fox eclipses his earlier work-and several other same-sex tragedies-by immersing us in his protagonist's quiet turmoil. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenMar 21, 2013
Yossi is an early spring breeze of a film – too delicate to be substantial but definitely holding the promise of warmth. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeLoren KingMar 7, 2013
Knoller manages to make even a withdrawn character compelling, and worth rooting for as Yossi struggles to shed his shell. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsFeb 21, 2013
The several allusions to Thomas Mann’s forbidden-love novel “Death in Venice” are apt, but Yossi is also a standalone film and an extraordinary sequel. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisFeb 15, 2013
This is a mature film from a mature director who gets more assured with every outing, even if this contained character study does not rank among his most ambitious efforts. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneJan 24, 2013
The film is at its finest as a catalogue of Yossi's unspoken ache, less so when it begins to flirt with the clichés of the love story. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinJan 24, 2013
In its superior first half, Yossi sustains a mood of wistful longing and inexorable loneliness as its directionless protagonist lumbers through a grey, joyless existence, but the film threatens to turn into a gay Israeli version of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" once Knoller finds his impossibly gorgeous, persistent dream man. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJan 24, 2013
What began as a reasonably hardheaded look at profound and rapid cultural change turns into a feel-good fantasy of salvation. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 24, 2013
Yossi spends much of its 84 minutes with a passive hero. This older Yossi is a vestige of the man he once was, an overweight and hollow-eyed vestige who drags himself through his daily rounds and solitary nights. Mr. Knoller's performance is admirable, and Yossi does find new reasons to embrace life. But his rebirth comes only after a very long requiem. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJan 24, 2013
You'll want to see Eytan Fox's acclaimed 2002 drama "Yossi & Jagger" before watching this intimate, often-moving sequel. Read full review
60
The GuardianHenry BarnesJan 23, 2013
It's a film full of tenderness, resting on a tremendous, sad performance from Knoller. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichJan 23, 2013
The perfectly sculpted, entirely sure-of-himself Tom ultimately seems more of a construct than a character, his carefree nature shaped almost entirely by the very wish-fulfillment clichés that the movie otherwise sidesteps. Read full review
60
Total FilmTom DawsonJan 23, 2013
This is a perceptive, warm-hearted work, anchored by Knoller's impressively less-is-more performance. Read full review
50
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeJan 24, 2013
The film keeps its focus small, but the trouble is, the characters' emotions stay that way, too. Read full review
More From This Movie

66 Critic Reviews

7.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL