It's priceless -- one of those pictures every producer hopes to make.
Comment
06/05/02
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
97
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:34
Rotten:1
Average Rating:8.6/10
Consensus: An engrossing look at the triumphs and travails of war veterans, The Best Years of Our Lives is concerned specifically with the aftermath of World War II, but its messages speak to the overall American experience.
Synopsis: Perhaps the most memorable film about the aftermath of World War II, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES unfolds with the homecoming of three veterans to the same small town. The leads all touch emotional... [More]
Starring: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright
Director: William Wyler
Reviews for The Best Years of Our Lives
It may be corny, but you'd have to be a real cynic not to be drawn in.
02/19/08
Like most good mass entertainments, this picture has occasional moments of knowing hokum; but unlike most sure-fire movies, it was put together with good taste, honesty, wit -- and even a strong suggestion of guts.
02/17/09
The best coming home movie ever made.
01/01/00
One of the best pictures of our lives.
02/19/08
Top CriticIt is seldom that there comes a motion picture which can be wholly and enthusiastically endorsed not only as superlative entertainment but as food for quiet and humanizing thought.
05/20/03
Top CriticPost-war Hollywood drama at its heartfelt best.
02/03/06
No review available.
10/06/05
No review available.
03/08/08
No review available.
12/18/02
The film is very proud of itself, exuding a stifling piety at times, but it works as well as this sort of thing can, thanks to accomplished performances by Fredric March, Myrna Loy, and Dana Andrews, who keep the human element afloat.
12/12/06
Wyler and Goldwyn have made a glorious 'intimate epic,' one worthy of every honor bestowed upon it.
02/10/05
This is intelligent, admirably unsentimental and utterly involving for its full three-hour running time.
07/07/04
Top CriticNo review available.
07/26/02
One of the few films that deserved all the awards heaped on it from the Oscars.
03/17/07
Although it contains moving passages, Best Years is not much more than a conventional drama on the problems of servicemen attempting to adjust to life in postwar America, well served by an all-star cast and Toland's ingenious deep-focus setups.
02/19/08
The film captured the mood of post-WWII America so well that even harsher critics like James Agee failed to see the film's dramatic flaws, instead stressing its realism and black-and-white deep focus photography by Gregg Toland.
07/22/05
Overlong, perhaps, but this tender and occasionally tough look at the plight of returning war veterans is one of Wyler's best films.
06/24/06
The feeling of warmth and satisfaction that accompanies the conclusion is the hallmark of a great drama.
01/01/00
I found it notable mainly because its massive 172 minutes are exclusively devoted to exploring characters, rather than showing any giant-sized, dazzling "epic" scenes.
01/29/09
Latest News for The Best Years of Our Lives
June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...
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