74
Metascore
25 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannDownbeat, ultimately tragic, but there's a wondrous, sad beauty here.
- 88USA TodayMike ClarkUSA TodayMike ClarkUltimately grim, Liam is ripe in humanity --and even comedy.
- 75Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerSeattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerWhat's left at the end is an emotionally restrained vision of harsh, impoverished lives, more thoughtful than affecting, and never less than gorgeous, but so unfocused it leaves only scattered impressions.
- 75New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickDirector Frears, in a radical shift from "High Fidelity," again (as in "Dangerous Liaisons") shows he's a master of period detail and subtle storytelling -- and the performances couldn't be more on the money.
- 75Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrFrears makes every note count for a lot in this beautifully gauged microcosm of big emotions expressed in small gestures.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaPhiladelphia InquirerSteven ReaWhile there are similarities to the hardscrabble saga of "Angela's Ashes," Frears' film avoids the mawkish pitfalls of Alan Parker's screen adaptation.
- 70New Times (L.A.)Luke Y. ThompsonNew Times (L.A.)Luke Y. ThompsonThough the film came out a year ago in the U.K., the timing here is unfortunate, and one has to wish that, like so many bigger productions, Liam could have migrated to a more-distant release date.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerHas some rapturously observant sequences concerning childhood.
- 63New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardHandsomely mounted but disappointingly slight.
- 60Village VoiceAmy TaubinVillage VoiceAmy TaubinActing is the strongest element in Stephen Frears's Liam.