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Reviews Counted:91
Fresh:66
Rotten:25
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: Sensitive to a fault, Tucker's adaptation of the Morrison novel is nonetheless solidly scripted and well-acted; guard your heartstrings.
Theatrical Release:05-10-2007
Synopsis: Celebrated English actors Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth team up for this moving drama about a father and son. Based on Blake Morrison's autobiographical novel, WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER?... [More]
Starring: Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent, Juliet Stevenson, Gina McKee
Director: Anand Tucker
The film alternates subtly, seamlessly between past and present and constantly uses mirrors to suggest the different meanings of reflection, of seeing things through a glass darkly, of viewing events from different angles.
Watchable drama with superb performances from a strong cast, though it ultimately feels too self-indulgent to be emotionally engaging.
This is one of those commendably well-made and a trifle old-fashioned films which nowadays will probably find as large an audience on television as in the cinema.
A tender and moving Britflick that’s sure to land a couple of Bafta noms next year.
Smoothly interwoven flashbacks dramatise both a relationship and an absence of one – or at least the blanks in one.
Top CriticIt's a great song of innocence and embarrassment, with a lively, gregarious performance at its centre by Jim Broadbent as Arthur and a quieter but no less effective one by debutant Beard.
This deeply felt film from Anand Tucker deserves to be seen.
Top CriticThe film is sweet, simplified and a bit syrupy on the soundtrack.
A decade ago Morrison’s biography explored a grief that, I suspect unwittingly, indeed shockingly, exposed the shallow times. The film doesn’t cut the same mustard.
Top CriticDirector Anand Tucker has moved quickly past the execrable Steve Martin vehicle Shopgirl with a solid, thoughtful, character-driven film.
Top CriticFeels like just another classy soap opera.
Anand Tucker has no need of bells and whistles, instead letting Colin Firth, and especially Jim Broadbent, enthral us with wonderfully vivid performances.
Top CriticA bruising but rewarding experience.
It’s certainly a moving film, and many will find its close examination of a father-son relationship particularly cathartic and reflective.
Top CriticBroadbent is marvellous as the emotional bulldozer while Firth beautifully conveys the concerns of a man terrified that he may be turning into the man he loathed as an adolescent.
Anand Tucker brings Blake Morrison’s autobiographical bestseller to the screen with sensitivity, humour and visual flair.
Top CriticMorrison's book is painfully honest and whilst the film is sensitively handled and impeccably crafted it is also curiously distant and unmoving.
While it's beautifully shot and acted, the film is also somewhat indulgent and meandering.
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A bore of a memoir.
November 01, 2008:
A keen and candid subjective scrutiny of parenting through the eyes of a damaged offspring, but a relentlessly grim, insular perspective that rarely ventures outside those long festering psychological wounds. 
More...
December 14, 2007:
Atonement, Control Lead London Film Critics Noms
The London Critics Circle has announced the nominees for its year-end awards, with Anton Corbijn's Control and Joe Wright's Atonement leading the pack at eight nominations apiece. More...
September 09, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review.
More...
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