Heaven 2002

Critics score:
74 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News: It's not a completely successful endeavor, partly because of obvious marquee casting and a New Age-y finale reminiscent of Thelma & Louise, but it's still quite compelling. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Some movies suck you in despite their flaws, and Heaven is one such beast. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: We can argue for eternity if this Heaven is the one Kieslowski dreamed of, but we can be grateful that Tykwer had the courage to climb the ladder Kieslowski left behind. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: If Heaven doesn't quite achieve the transcendent power that Kieslowski might have attained, it comes close. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Blanchett's performance transcends cultural barriers, and makes the film well worth seeing. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: The story remains so minimal that, ultimately, it just isn't there. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Seems to have less to do with lived moral dilemmas than with the smug piety of its makers. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Both engrossing and moving, a poem about a love that breaks barriers and passes understanding. Read more

Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times: Tykwer's surface flash isn't just a poor fit with Kieslowski's lyrical pessimism; it completely contradicts everything Kieslowski's work aspired to, including the condition of art. Read more

Houston Chronicle: Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Further sad evidence that Tom Tykwer, director of the resonant and sense-spinning Run Lola Run, has turned out to be a one-trick pony -- a maker of softheaded metaphysical claptrap. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: A beautifully designed, lyrical fable of a movie. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Mr. Tykwer manages to put his own stamp on Heaven without neglecting the vision of the man who wrote it. Read more

Graham Robinson, L.A. Weekly: Like many of Kieslowski's religious analogies ... this may sound a bit much on paper, but it works like gangbusters in context. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: You might say Tykwer has done all that Heaven allows, if you wanted to make as anti-Kieslowski a pun as possible. Suffice to say its total promise is left slightly unfulfilled. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: In Heaven the Australian dramatic chameleon Cate Blanchett gives the most compelling screen performance of her career. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The movie tries to be ethereal, but ends up seeming goofy. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Blanchett's performance confirms her power once again. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Tykwer is in love with the classic convention of lovers on the lam, but he hasn't worn it out yet. Instead, he consistently renews it. Read more

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: Blanchett, one of the great actresses working today, is mesmerizing. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: While we'll never really know what Kieslowski might have made of this ... we can be reasonably certain even he would be moved by what this unlikely young German filmmaker has made of it. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Read more

Mike D'Angelo, Time Out: Far more successful, if considerably less ambitious, than last year's Kubrick-meets-Spielberg exercise. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: A restrained Ribisi convinces as an Italian, though if ever a movie needed one of the actor's whiny jags to pump it up, this has to be among the rare ones. Read more

Derek Elley, Variety: Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Read more