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01/26/06
Emile (2004)
57
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:23
Fresh:13
Rotten:10
Average Rating:5.8/10
Synopsis: Accomplished British actor Sir Ian McKellen stars in this Canadian picture as Emile, a 65 year-old man torn apart by memories of his troubled past. Consumed by guilt over abandoning his family when... [More]
Starring: Ian McKellen, Deborah Unger, Tygh Runyan
Reviews for Emile
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12/06/05
A routine memory piece about long-buried family secrets that bubble back to the surface to wreak havoc.
03/04/05
Top CriticConfusing the profound with the pretentious, director Bessai packs the story with elliptical, ominous flashbacks that undercut all the advances he makes with the contemporary tale.
03/04/05
Tenderly touches our emotions.
03/04/05
Sensitively played but ultimately undone by its unconventional approach.
03/04/05
Sir Ian McKellen is at his tweediest and most persnickety as the title character in Emile, the portrait of an eminent scientist who returns from England to his homeland, Canada, to receive an honorary degree from the University of Victoria.
03/03/05
Top CriticIt's appropriate that the director calls this the final chapter in a trilogy about struggling with one's identity -- he shows none of his own while mishandling someone else's.
03/03/05
Poignant and well acted, though not very memorable.
02/17/05
It's ultimately more simplistic and contrived than provocative.
02/04/05
While this dreamily photographed piece contains fine performances by all, it loses its way as it lingers too long in the past and moves too slowly in the present.
02/04/05
At heart a reverie, a meditation on the past and its treacheries, the ways in which people become flawed, and the eternal though often elusive possibility of forgiveness and redemption.
02/03/05
Top CriticMcKellen and Unger do a wonderful trudging through the dirt (and, finally, cheese), Emile never quite gets off the ground.
12/27/04
An honest and intelligent look into real relationships, impressively original in its execution and breathtakingly remarkable in its delivery.
07/20/04
The films of Carl Bessai are remarkably similar on two fronts: (1) They all have a single name for a title -- first Johnny, then Lola, now Emile; and (2) They just aren't getting much better.
06/04/04
a film of tender hues, quiet intensity and elegiac melancholy that you may well find lingering in your own memory.
05/22/04
Technical shortcomings aside this is a good story well told, elevated by McKellen on top form.
05/22/04
Top CriticReminds us that Sir Ian McKellen is used to playing more complex characters than Gandalf or Magneto.
05/11/04
A small but excellent cast supports McKellen in what is a beautiful and intelligent film.
03/30/04
Beautifully filmed and edited by Bessai to take us into the mind of a man who has made too many life-changing decisions.
03/16/04
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