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07/28/08
The Stone Angel (2008)
47 %
Reviews Counted: 17 Fresh: 8 Rotten:9 Average Rating: 5.5/10
Runtime: 90 mins
Synopsis: Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Laurence, The Stone Angel is the story of feisty firecracker Hagar Shipley (Christine Horne, Oscar Winner Ellen Burstyn). Her passionate heart has always ruled her head and her choices have put her at odds with family and friends. With her life... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Christine Horne, Cole Hauser, Kevin Zegers, Ellen Page
Reviews
1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Left me feeling respectfully indifferent, as if I'd been served a nutritious meal that was only fleetingly satisfying.
07/25/08
The only way to enjoy Kari Skogland's epic portrait of a miserable 90-year- woman named Hagar (Ellen Burstyn) is to reframe it as Scary Movie for weepies.
07/24/08
Far less would have been much more, though the geriatric protagonist's salty sexual wit and impulse to share a joint with a passing stranger, spice up the often dreary chronological procession of family episodes.
07/12/08
Despite a terrific lead performance by Ellen Burstyn, Kari Skogland's epic The Stone Angel is a lesson in the perils of trying to cram a hefty Canadian novel that spans decades into a movie running just under two hours.
07/11/08
Writer-director Kari Skogland adapts a beloved Canadian novel gracefully and with plenty of spunk, the same way its main character moves through the world from cradle to grave.
07/11/08
Although talented newcomer Christine Horne is ideal as the younger Hagar, letting Burstyn play the character at around 50, despite best-effort lighting, was not the wisest choice.
07/11/08
Top Critic
Old lady on the road takes a memory trip, giving Burstyn a chance to shine.
07/11/08
It's not a great movie, but Burstyn fans shouldn't miss her subtle performance.
07/11/08
Overacted, underwritten, and with flashback cues so lazy the characters may as well just say, "I remember when...," the film feels like The Notebook II.
07/11/08
No review available.
07/11/08
Top Critic
Events pass by in a muddled rush as the intimate character study of the page gives way to a hollowed-out on screen portrait.
07/10/08
A stubbornly affecting drama that’s strongest in its quieter moments.
07/10/08
Burstyn can do maternal strength and strife in her sleep, but Kari Skogland’s hardscrabble weepie is still indistinguishable from any number of similar memory-lane melodramas.
07/09/08
Ellen Burstyn deserves another Oscar nomination for this compelling drama.
07/08/08
Top Critic
...there's certainly no overlooking the palpable emotional punch of the movie's final scenes.
05/14/08
These elemental forces fuel a compelling narrative, but the second half of the movie starts to drift.
05/09/08
Ultimately, though, the story is defined by searing turns from the enjoyably crotchety Burstyn and Horne, who shepherds Hagar from prideful wild child to soul-sapped middle-aged mother.
05/09/08
There is a reverence for the idea of Laurence's book but ultimately, in spite of its spiced-up sex scenes, it's much tamer and more conventional.
05/09/08
1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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