Young Goethe in Love
Music Box Films | Release Date: November 4, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 8, 2011
Young Goethe in Love wants only to engage an audience with a capital-R Romantic ideal of Goethe's first love. It does so very well. And it was well worth the effort. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeNov 2, 2011
Stölzl's film falls gently between the stools of high-brow camp and genuine seduction by its many period charms, fine actors and lovely landscapes. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonFeb 17, 2012
Stölzl blends romance and melancholy in fine style. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertDec 7, 2011
A delight on its own terms, even if it has little to do with the real Goethe; here is a randy young man not a million miles apart from Tom Jones. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 17, 2011
So the situation is fraught, without being clear-cut; in other words, interesting. Read full review
70
VarietyBoyd van HoeijNov 1, 2011
As its English-language title indicates, Philipp Stoelzl's yarn is clearly modeled on "Shakespeare in Love." But though it lacks that film's delirious wordplay, this German cousin is well plotted and impressively mounted. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaDec 8, 2011
There are big, jaunty gusts of music, and there are big, jaunty gusts of acting: the Heath Ledger-esque Alexander Fehling pumps up his Johann Wolfgang von Goethe with brash, boyish verve and stormy emoting. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderBen SachsDec 8, 2011
If you can tolerate the overbearing music (think John Williams at his most manipulative), this is relatively painless, thanks to a lighthearted tone and some energetic lead performances. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsNov 2, 2011
Whatever its basis in fact, there's nothing to Young Goethe In Love's story that dozens of other films haven't done before, and better. But Fehling keeps his Goethe just on the right side of obnoxious, and Stein invests a lot of character and gawky charm into what easily could have been just "the girl." Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 19, 2012
What it is is watchable, a thoroughly professional piece of Great Man hackwork that lacks the invention and spirit of its obvious model, "Shakespeare in Love.'' Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasNov 6, 2011
Instead of underplaying the story's escalating tempestuousness it pushes it over the top; time and again the film begins to catch fire only to be doused in silliness. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. MusettoNov 4, 2011
Young Goethe looks great, and the cast is appealing. But the story is riddled with clichés and fabrications. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottNov 3, 2011
Mr. Fehling, tumbling from puppy dog eagerness into weepy, inky self-pity, never quite rises to the requirements of the role, which may be hopelessly incoherent in any case. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonNov 3, 2011
Doesn't the reigning genius of the German language deserve his own "Shakespeare in Love"? Sure. But as Goethe scampers about Leipzig, comically failing his doctoral exam, spilling his books and looking bemused, young Johann might as well be auditioning for his own Disney Channel program. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonNov 1, 2011
And yet for all of its obtuse choices, there's still something commendable, if daffy, about trying to turn the high holy father of German literature into a rock star. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 6, 2011
Turns one of the greatest geniuses of German literature into a love-struck rapscallion. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearNov 1, 2011
Cool, it's a rom-com featuring the man who'd influence Romanticism. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerOct 30, 2011
What unfolds is a predictably anguished story of true love thwarted by material circumstances, or in the terms dictated by the film, rationality triumphing over romance. Read full review
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