44
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungIt would be hard to find two more contrasting actresses than Otto and Pires, but Barreto plays off their differences in culture and personality.
- 60Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonTime Out LondonTrevor JohnstonThe film never works out how to generate genuine dramatic fire from its material. There are convincing performances and decorative retro detail to admire, but the heart needs to beat just that bit faster – and it doesn’t manage that.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoSan Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoDespite its worthy subject, this feature by veteran Brazilian director Bruno Barreto has a bluntness that's at odds with Bishop's personality and work.
- 40The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldMs. Otto conveys a double-edged intelligence as the film’s pinched notion of “Elizabeth Bishop in Brazil,” while Ms. Pires strides about, every snap judgment and grand gesture a measure of her appeal. Both are hemmed in by direction and a screenplay that are relentlessly on point (as well as an off-the-shelf score).
- 40Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleEverything ultimately gives way to the stately, simplistic, inevitable pace of by-the-numbers biopics, from some woefully tinny, hit-and-run screenwriting to the usual difficulties surrounding the dramatization of an author's craft.
- 38Slant MagazineDiego SemereneSlant MagazineDiego SemereneBruno Barreto's insistence that this pass for a product that Hollywood might have spawned smoothens a journey built on sharp edges.
- 30Village VoiceCalum MarshVillage VoiceCalum MarshPoetry refracts life; this film can only reflect it, and tritely at that.