This is a movie that will only please the fans of the excellent show Ray Donovan. I can't see anyone enjoying this movie if they didn't watch the series before, it's almost impossible to understand then. But if you did, this movie is a good farewell. I enjoyed all the seven seasons of Ray Donovan, a show that got better with the years, with excellent characters, like Mickey, Bunchy, Terry and Ray. The movie is clearly the end of the show, that we will all miss but to everything comes an end and they couldn't have it done better than with this movie.
175 Reviews
See ya later Ray Ray.
ocosis14 January 2022
Long, slow goodbye
Tr-u-mpbilly15 January 2022
So Long Ray Donovan...
ecatalan9829 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
"Ray Donovan" the series was one of the best things to happen to TV in a while. Like a darker, bleaker "Sopranos", "Ray Donovan" was an incredible show that was suddenly cancelled by Showtime, despite having its last season's finale end on a cliffhanger. Many fans like myself felt shortchanged by Showtime's abrupt cancellation but in the end our voices were heard.
Instead of properly ending the show with a full length season 8, the producers managed to wrangle out a movie that would wrap up Ray Donovan's story. Two years after its cancellation, "Ray Donovan The Movie" comes to finish the story.
The movie, unlike some of the series best episodes, moves at an excruciatingly slow pace, with barely any hard action sequences. The use of constant flashbacks were needed to round things up between Ray Donovan and his father Mickey. Production and acting are top notch and my only complain is that, being a movie it could've been a bit more faster paced.
Fortunately the ending wraps things up in a bittersweet kind of way with only Bridget's and Terry's arch left open for viewer interpretation.
Ray Donovan's story begged to have another full length season to wrap things up in a more even way but I understand the producers only got a chance to do this 2 hours "finale". If you want to fully appreciate this movie you have to see the entire series, otherwise its impact will be largely diminished.
7 out of 10. I will miss Ray Donovan series dearly ...
Instead of properly ending the show with a full length season 8, the producers managed to wrangle out a movie that would wrap up Ray Donovan's story. Two years after its cancellation, "Ray Donovan The Movie" comes to finish the story.
The movie, unlike some of the series best episodes, moves at an excruciatingly slow pace, with barely any hard action sequences. The use of constant flashbacks were needed to round things up between Ray Donovan and his father Mickey. Production and acting are top notch and my only complain is that, being a movie it could've been a bit more faster paced.
Fortunately the ending wraps things up in a bittersweet kind of way with only Bridget's and Terry's arch left open for viewer interpretation.
Ray Donovan's story begged to have another full length season to wrap things up in a more even way but I understand the producers only got a chance to do this 2 hours "finale". If you want to fully appreciate this movie you have to see the entire series, otherwise its impact will be largely diminished.
7 out of 10. I will miss Ray Donovan series dearly ...
For better or worse, its done now
8512226 March 2022
Greetings from Lithuania.
"Ray Donovan: The Movie" (2022) wraped up the series "Ray Donovan". I highly enjoyed the series, which at some point overstayed its welcome, yet was entertaining watch. The series itself started wonderfully some 10 years ago and i was there at its pilot, and first season was closest thing to perfection. And more or less i liked all seasons after it, yet they were not consistent. And I'm very glad that they did the ending after all, and not leaving it on a cliffhanger. For better or worse, its done now.
"Ray Donovan: The Movie" (2022) wraped up the series "Ray Donovan". I highly enjoyed the series, which at some point overstayed its welcome, yet was entertaining watch. The series itself started wonderfully some 10 years ago and i was there at its pilot, and first season was closest thing to perfection. And more or less i liked all seasons after it, yet they were not consistent. And I'm very glad that they did the ending after all, and not leaving it on a cliffhanger. For better or worse, its done now.
Ray, we will miss you!
frank-liesenborgs14 January 2022
"Ray Donovan: The Movie" picks up where season 7 ended. Ray's father Mickey (Jon Voight) on the run with valuable documents belonging to the Donovans' long-time rivals, the Sullivan clan, while Ray (Liev Schreiber) and his brothers Terry (Eddie Marsan), Bunchy (Dash Mihok) and Daryll (Pooch Hall) are dealing with the usual questions of fate and a haunted past from which they'll never quite escape. Ray's daughter Bridget (Kerris Dorsey) has been left a young widow after her husband Smitty (Graham Rogers) was collateral damage in yet another shootout involving the Donovans. Outstanding acting performance from the whole cast, and Live Schreiber´s best role of his career. With this movie, Ray gets the send-off he deserves. Like his daughter Bridget in the movie says: "It had to stop, it had to end". Ray, we will miss you!
A slow drawn-out last "episode" of Ray Donovan :-(
stevebondi28 January 2022
The story and dialog were slow and contrary in many aspects to the characters we have come to know. The acting was impeccable as it was throughout the series, but my family and I still did not find it to be a satisfying conclusion! :-(
Closure
rich-mac15 January 2022
Perhaps it's the prodigious amount of whiskey consumed, but I really liked this show. There was something gritty and real about the character portrayal - even when there were some fantastical plot lines.
Ray Donovan: The Movie brought closure and explanation to the back story and a final exposition of threads from the series that had been left somewhat unresolved. And, these were wrapped up Donovan style - a mixture of pain and joy, with a thick vein of tragedy to wash it down. It wasn't easy, but it was satisfying.
I was glad of the opportunity to have one last dip into this world.
So a final doff of the cap to an amazing ensemble (and crew) that managed to bring this world to life with convincing honesty - it's been quite a ride!
I don't usually like to single out actors from a tight ensemble, but upon reflection, in this case I feel compelled to. Two characters and their amazing actors provided a solid base for this series, their work anchoring the ensemble. Eddie Marsan as Terry, an extraordinary performance that must have been completely exhausting. And then there is John Voight as Mickey. For sure Voight had good material to work with, but Voight surely makes the point that great actors get better with age - what an absolute legend - loved him hated him, respected him, loathed him - he took us on the full heroes journey, fatal flaws and all.
Edit: And one more thing. To their enduring credit, the writer's introduced the main themes that play out over the length of this show (all 7 seasons) in its opening episode, season 1 episode 1. Apart from the fact that that provides the actors with a solid grounding for their characters, that foresight and depth deserves recognition in its own right.
Ray Donovan: The Movie brought closure and explanation to the back story and a final exposition of threads from the series that had been left somewhat unresolved. And, these were wrapped up Donovan style - a mixture of pain and joy, with a thick vein of tragedy to wash it down. It wasn't easy, but it was satisfying.
I was glad of the opportunity to have one last dip into this world.
So a final doff of the cap to an amazing ensemble (and crew) that managed to bring this world to life with convincing honesty - it's been quite a ride!
I don't usually like to single out actors from a tight ensemble, but upon reflection, in this case I feel compelled to. Two characters and their amazing actors provided a solid base for this series, their work anchoring the ensemble. Eddie Marsan as Terry, an extraordinary performance that must have been completely exhausting. And then there is John Voight as Mickey. For sure Voight had good material to work with, but Voight surely makes the point that great actors get better with age - what an absolute legend - loved him hated him, respected him, loathed him - he took us on the full heroes journey, fatal flaws and all.
Edit: And one more thing. To their enduring credit, the writer's introduced the main themes that play out over the length of this show (all 7 seasons) in its opening episode, season 1 episode 1. Apart from the fact that that provides the actors with a solid grounding for their characters, that foresight and depth deserves recognition in its own right.
Well done wrap up
gnianello15 January 2022
Movie captured the heart of the series, as best you can in 100 minutes. Flashbacks used well and are obviously necessary as opposed to some opinions here. If you were a fan of this excellent series, you should be satisfied. Acting superb as always.
What was the point?
lidiabaric22 January 2022
Well done of course
supermellowcali16 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
If you haven't watched the TV series, skip this movie. It's a meaningful epilogue to the Ray Donovan series but would probably be frustrating otherwise. The film was less exciting than the series because it did flashback a lot- more than needed- but filled in blanks that were important in understanding the main relationship between ray and mick. It concluded things in a way, but the end wasn't quite final, was it? Maybe we'll see RD again.
Sometimes I wonder if "reviewers" on here actually watch what they reviewed.
ytsejamdoit-1800215 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Sometimes I wonder if "reviewers" on here actually watch what they reviewed.
So far I've seen tears about too many flashbacks when in reality the flashback scenes are maybe 10% of the movie. I've seen tears about it being too slow and boring, well did you actually watch the tv show?? And then of course the classic 1/10 worst movie ever crowd.
Is this as good as early Ray Donovan? Absolutely not, those days were gone as soon as they killed Abby and got rid of Avi as well which ended up leading to the show dipping in quality but this is still a good ending to what was an entertaining show.
So far I've seen tears about too many flashbacks when in reality the flashback scenes are maybe 10% of the movie. I've seen tears about it being too slow and boring, well did you actually watch the tv show?? And then of course the classic 1/10 worst movie ever crowd.
Is this as good as early Ray Donovan? Absolutely not, those days were gone as soon as they killed Abby and got rid of Avi as well which ended up leading to the show dipping in quality but this is still a good ending to what was an entertaining show.
Remove Bridget and this would have been 10 stars
nationalmich23 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Of all the characters in the history of television, few are less deserving of a 'happy' ending than Bridget Donovan. Sure she'll feel bad about having Daddy rot in jail for her crime but certainly not bad enough to take responsibility for what she did. Pity the writers let her play God deciding who gets to live, who has to die and who gets to pay for her crime while the other characters - save perhaps Bunchy - are left to suffer a much bleaker fate. I would have much preferred having Mickey, Ray, Terry, Bunch and Daryll finally spend some happy moments together. As Ray said at the end, he never even got to say "I love you". After enduring seven seasons plus the movie of so much violence, having it end on a more uplifting note would have been more poignant.
Better Than the Abysmal Last Few Seasons of Tv Series
sumtim3s00n15 January 2022
This movie had much more depth, impact and soul than the last few seasons of the tv show. They were directionless, shallow, dreary and streched out, unwatchable some. Instead of going back to episodic Ray as in the first seasons, where he dealth with cases or writing a quality storyline, they kept pilling on one more depressing and dull plot point after another, cycling while going down the drain.
The film finally breathes a bit of fresh air and airs out the staleness the show finished with. The history of Ray is nicely (noyslee) laid out and portrayed with spirit and emotional impact, the actors, especially the stoic, silent young Ray does a fantastic job. And while keeping with the tragic family cloud it managest to instill some positivity.
There are still some lingering drawbacks from the show, Bridget is no more appealing and less annoying than she was and that always looking like she just woke up drunk without make up rich chick Ray is with, shes just as poorly written and pathetic.
But aside from that, the movie regains a lot of the soul of the first few season of Ray and brings back some entertainment that the Ray Donovan name used to bring.
The film finally breathes a bit of fresh air and airs out the staleness the show finished with. The history of Ray is nicely (noyslee) laid out and portrayed with spirit and emotional impact, the actors, especially the stoic, silent young Ray does a fantastic job. And while keeping with the tragic family cloud it managest to instill some positivity.
There are still some lingering drawbacks from the show, Bridget is no more appealing and less annoying than she was and that always looking like she just woke up drunk without make up rich chick Ray is with, shes just as poorly written and pathetic.
But aside from that, the movie regains a lot of the soul of the first few season of Ray and brings back some entertainment that the Ray Donovan name used to bring.
Nice Wrap
dillymac2515 January 2022
Too thin a story for a movie.
etiennehollaar17 January 2022
A good farewell for the characters.
thenewgeneration14 January 2022
While the show would have definitely benefited from a last season, the movie does a very decent job of closing out the story for the characters as they were at the end of Season 7.
However, the movie cannot stand on it's own. It relies on the setup of 7 seasons of story and character progression. Watching this from an "outsiders" perspective is not recommended.
If you are a fan of the series, this should be a nice sendoff that stays true to the major cast of characters, while still leaving on a fairly open note.
Fully recommended for series veterans. The movie does not waste any time with filler and feels like a multi-part finale condensed into just over two episodes of length.
However, the movie cannot stand on it's own. It relies on the setup of 7 seasons of story and character progression. Watching this from an "outsiders" perspective is not recommended.
If you are a fan of the series, this should be a nice sendoff that stays true to the major cast of characters, while still leaving on a fairly open note.
Fully recommended for series veterans. The movie does not waste any time with filler and feels like a multi-part finale condensed into just over two episodes of length.
Such a letdown
nikrife18 January 2022
What a bummer! I LOVED this show and so I was really looking forward to this movie to tie up all the lose ends from the early ending season finale. What a major letdown that it was not at all the same fast pace and dark humor that the tv show was built upon. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion. So disappointed.
Ray, Ray, Thank you
Filmcrook14 January 2022
Ray Donovan is one of the best HBO series, and one of my favorites of the last couple years. This movie is a great send-off and ties up all the loose ends. Liev Schreiber is great as Ray, and the rest of the cast holds their own and can own a scene from time to time. But, Jon Voight is a showstopper as Mickey. He is vitty and funny, with slick slapstick Irish mannerisms. His character is either in the wrong place at the wrong time or in the right place at the right time. In both situations, there's always something going wrong, even if he's in control.
This movie puts the main focus on childhood trauma and guilt, which has always been one of the main themes in the show. It is well-paced, visually good looking, and the actors haven't lost their step. I was skeptical at first, but seeing the Donovan family again and resolving or at least erasing issues that have plagued them for years is a great service for me as a fan. This is worth a watch. I enjoyed it.
This movie puts the main focus on childhood trauma and guilt, which has always been one of the main themes in the show. It is well-paced, visually good looking, and the actors haven't lost their step. I was skeptical at first, but seeing the Donovan family again and resolving or at least erasing issues that have plagued them for years is a great service for me as a fan. This is worth a watch. I enjoyed it.
DISAPPOINTING LAST ?? HURRAH
alanl06-662-7702020 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Had the feeling of being somewhat cobbled together and , as others have commented , padded a bit too much . Nevertheless, I mostly enjoyed it , if only for a chance to see John Voights OTT but riveting portrayal of Mickey Donovan once again . If this was indeed the last hurrah there was a glaring absence in all the flashbacks , surely a MAJOR CHARACTER ( ABBIE ) from the series played brilliantly by the fantastic PAULA MALCOMSON , could have featured more than the the token " Young " ABBIE scene . Ms Malcomsons contribution to the series deserved more and one was left with the feeling , given the various writing and directing credits , that this was something of a Mr Schrieber " Benefit " movie.
More like a bonus 2 episodes
aeongale17 January 2022
Personally I would've been happy if the series ended with season 6 (or season maybe 5. The one that ends with everyone in the house and they're getting along celebrating). It was never going to be the awesome action series as it began as, and they'd already ripped the heart out of all the characters in the following ones. Far too much flashback story in this movie. Wild schemes is what we like. This is just a conclusion to season 7 with filler.
Glad I waited to binge the show when I knew there was a movie finale.
reddawn32925 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I binged s1-4 years ago but heard how the end was abrupt & I dropped it to the bottom of my to be binged list. Once I knew there was a movie, I binged all 7 seasons & then watched the movie. I def would have been pissed with the 7.10 cliff hanger finale. The movie wrapped the show up in a tidy bow. I loved the show & I am pleased with the movie. Nice closure. I like not knowing if Ray lives or dies. Mickey had to go. He deserved his end. Bridget is Ray 2.0. If I liked her, I'd suggest spin-off but I really don't like her at all. I liked the flashbacks, because the show was really about their father-son relationship so this movie focused on that closure for Ray. Being able to experience the past in the flashbacks vs cast dialogue was much better. I kind of wish the show had more with sister Bridget & young Mickey etc. I like the young Mickey actor a lot. I tend to always rate reviews higher than most. I don't really understand the bad reviews. The series needed this movie to wrap it all up. I give it 👍🏻👍🏻!
As a fan, it leaves you unsatisfied and upset
npngmanagement15 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Redemption story for Mickey was wasted. Mickey messed up everything he was involved in and in the end is responsible for what happened to Ray by saying to give the money to Ray. It caused the chain reaction which created about the worst possible ending to the show you can get. No one wants to see this happen to Ray.
Totally unnecessary
daneder-4049617 January 2022
There was no need for this film. The RD series on Showtime started off gang busters but got weaker with each new season as they began retreading the common theme; Mickey bad, Ray sad. This movie 'finale', which is worthless to anyone that hasn't endured all 7 (or so) seasons of the show, is like a regular episode of the RD show, only stuffed with filler. And some pretty poor writing in spots as well; there are hundreds of "as if" moments packed in throughout the the seasons with plenty more in this movie. You know what they say about overstaying your welcome, that's exactly what this movie does.
Questions Answered
hodgedeh16 January 2022
I suppose Showtime felt it necessary to close the book on Ray and the Donovan's. So they produced a 90 minute finale. It did answer some questions and we got a look at the cast with a few exceptions. Don't think it was meant
to entertain and if you were not a fan of the entire series some of it may have gotten lost in the translation.
See also
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