Beyond the Lights 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: [Prince-Bythewood's] film is more interesting than it is good. But if "interesting" includes 50 alluring close-ups of Parker giving hungry eyes to Mbatha-Raw, then "good" is overrated. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The teary-eyed sincerity of the music-industry drama "Beyond the Lights" is at times too much, but despite its cliche elements, the film at least has the feel of a passion project. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: You're drawn to her, and you root for her; there's something in Mbatha-Raw's lovely, direct gaze that pulls us in. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: Gugu Mbatha-Raw gives a fierce lead turn in Gina Prince-Bythewood's messy but undeniably entertaining music-biz romance. Read more

Keith Uhlich, AV Club: A star-crossed love story is only as good as its Romeo and Juliet. Both Parker and Mbatha-Raw have a sweet, smoldering chemistry that's a joy to witness ... Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The film soldiers on through a couple of possible endings, and if its real destination is never truly in doubt, Mbatha-Raw makes the trip interesting. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: The movie has a soapy impulse that it would have done well to resist, given the occasional surprising strength of its more unvarnished elements. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood employs plenty of well-worn melodramatic devices, but sincerely; the characters' emotions ring true even when the story feels far-fetched. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Director Prince-Bythewood, who made the move from television to the big-screen in 2000 with the terrific romance Love and Basketball has a way with actors. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: "Beyond the Lights" doesn't have much insight into the world of modern celebrity, but as a romance, its actors make it sing. Read more

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly: Beyond the Lights might not single-handedly revive the backstage melodrama on the big screen, but the movie manages to drag it defiantly into 2014 ... Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: Gina Prince-Bythewood's entertaining music-biz melodrama is no less satisfying for the familiarity of its soapy trajectory. Read more

Martin Tsai, Los Angeles Times: Along the way, Mbatha-Raw looks, sounds and moves like an A-lister. If "Belle" put the actress on Hollywood's radar, "Beyond the Lights" heralds her superstardom. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: "Beyond the Lights" is a faint shadow of 1992's "The Bodyguard," without the star power of Whitney Houston or Kevin Costner. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: Has the elements of a classic backstage story, but they don't quite crystallize into an integral drama. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: If it were any cheesier, they could pour it on macaroni. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: This unusually intelligent crowd-pleaser is welcome proof that quality filmmaking needn't be limited by subject, audience or budget. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Silly and stirring, and I meant both as compliments. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Prince-Bythewood is stingingly astute at what fame does to objectify women. And Gugu Mbatha-Raw, so good this year in Belle, is a shining new star. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Over the course of the film, Mbatha-Raw does many things, all of them quite well. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: It's a movie about a rising superstar that features two of them-Mbatha-Raw and Parker, both enormously appealing, impossibly attractive performers with big futures ahead of them. Read more

Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Prince-Bythewood isn't reinventing the wheel here, but she succeeds on a pure entertainment level. Read more

Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail: A formulaic, often melodramatic crowd-pleaser with thoughts on celebrity-driven culture and the ravenous appetite of fans, followers and the media. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Mbatha-Raw is clearly destined for bigger things. Consider Beyond the Lights a stop along the way. Read more

Dan Callahan, TheWrap: In every scene here, Prince-Bythewood calmly and sensitively melts our resistance to the outlandish, outsized quality of her plot and stays true to the message she wants to deliver without ever getting pious or preachy. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: While melodramatic in the vein of A Star Is Born, Beyond the Lights is also a wise and open-hearted look at the price of fame upon personal identity. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: Sometimes the most seemingly conventional stories are the best tools for digging into knotty, everyday truths. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: How bracing today to have a film that's at once fun, patient, romantic, and real. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The fact that "Beyond the Lights" is so effective at both celebrating and critiquing extravagance and artifice can be credited to Prince-Bythewood's shrewd understanding of the highly pitched cinematic vernacular she's working with. Read more