Love Is Strange 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: I can't say enough about how smart and clear-eyed it is. And moving: I'm wiping tears off my keyboard as I type this. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: "Love is Strange'' is very well worth seeing for its two stars, who acutely convey the pain their characters feel over their separation as well as displaying their considerable comic chops to keep things from getting too grim. Read more

Matthew Kassel, New York Observer: Mr. Sachs thankfully shirks the schtick, settling instead on a more mellow and meandering narrative, with pockets of humor and heartbreak, giving Love Is Strange its casual, welcoming feel. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: I didn't know that apartments still sell for pittances in the city's superheated market, but it's only one of many details that don't ring true in a movie that gives you time to wonder about such things in between the plodding plot points. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Sachs tells the story with artful economy - one late, crucial plot point happens without our seeing it - and ends it with an achingly lovely image, caught in golden sunlight. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: This beautifully observed ensembler shines on the strength of its two leads, John Lithgow and Alfred Molina, who conjure four decades together as they enter the "for better, for worse" phase of their union. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: The filmmaker observes with great sensitivity, letting certain conflicts play just below the surface. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "Love Is Strange" is a testament to love, not in an overly sentimental way, but in a realistic way. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Love Is Strange" is one of those lovely little movies that starts out being about a handful of people and ends up being about all of us. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Beautifully realized in Sachs's sensitive characterization are the pain of separation and the despair of becoming a burden on the next generation. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Many, I suspect, will be moved to tears by "Love Is Strange," which Sachs earns the hard way: not by amping up the dramatic situations, but by grace notes and quiet spells cast by all the right actors. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The living-apart scenario is contrived -- there was no way for these men to share a space somewhere? -- but the two actors are so good that it doesn't much matter. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: 'Love is Strange' takes something so right and leaves it hanging all wrong. Read more

Joe McGovern, Entertainment Weekly: Sachs takes an impeccably balanced approach to the film. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, Film.com: Ira Sachs' film makes you understand the miracle and good fortune of finding love. Read more

Boyd van Hoeij, Hollywood Reporter: Set in the Big Apple, this is a sprawling yet intimate narrative, constructed almost entirely of in-between moments rather than the big turning points and tragedies. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Without Molina and Lithgow, the film might feel like little more than a light experiment in social dynamics. But nearly everything about "Love Is Strange" suits it ... Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Sometimes, love can feel like hate or annoyance - it is, as the title states, strange. But sometimes, more often than not, it can be a wonderful thing. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: What lends it spirit is the performances, both major and minor, and Sachs's determination to dramatize same-sex love not as groundbreaking, but as securely rooted -- rent control and all -- in common ground. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A heartbreaking movie - the story of two people who love each other, who are devoted to each other, who only want to live together in quiet happiness. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Scripted by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, the movie is warm, unforced and believable. Much of that can be credited to Lithgow and Molina, who fully inhabit the roles of Ben and George. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Director Ira Sachs' drama is full of thoughtful, intelligent reserve. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The story of George and Ben seems to have been plucked from a meadow of narrative possibilities; an interesting movie could have been made about everybody in this one. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Lithgow, with his modulated flamboyance, and Molina, with his sad-eyed realism, are perfect individually and as a team. But the movie tends to drift away from an audience, because it's all sensibility, no sense. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A film about learning, and changing, and learning to change. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Acting doesn't get better than this. Want to know what love is? Watch Lithgow and Molina and learn. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: You need to give "Love Is Strange" your eyes and ears and attention, let it work its effects on you gradually, like the lovely Chopin piano music that forms the spine of its soundtrack. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: See "Love Is Strange" for its sensitivity and understated jokes, but mainly for Lithgow and Molina's expertly modulated work, which pulls the movie back when it threatens to stray into melodrama or heavy-handedness. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Love Is Strange is a delight to watch unfold. Read more

Claude Peck, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The movie, which feels a bit like a mashup of Woody Allen and Mike Leigh, succeeds on its simple story and its lead actors. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Love Is Strange" is beautifully acted and bittersweet. It's a gentle reminder that modern love, like a houseplant, needs sunlight, space and attention to grow. Read more

Nathalie Atkinson, Globe and Mail: This is not a strident film; it's about subtle performances. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: An unforgettable portrait, set to a dazzling soundtrack of Chopin piano pieces, of the sense of loss we all feel when we are obliged to move into unfamiliar and uncomfortable surroundings. Read more

Inkoo Kang, TheWrap: "Love is Strange" boasts an abundance of patience and kindness - but not much of a pulse. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: It's an essential-and essentially New York-story about limited room, limited time but incalculable attachment. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Love may be weird, complicated and uncertain, but it is also wondrous. Love Is Strange makes that case with a remarkable blend of tenderness, wit and intelligence Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: That's the mercurial beauty of Love Is Strange: It's about things that actually matter in life and in a partnership, including the debit column in the checkbook. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Love Is Strange is drab-looking and has its longueurs, but it's emotionally very full. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The strangest thing about "Love Is Strange" is how completely un-strange it is, from its familiar family dynamics to its exquisite honesty and compassion. Read more