Il divo 2008

Stephen Holden, New York Times: As operatic cinema, it ranks alongside the best of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Read more

Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com: The film takes flight on the brilliant title performance by Tony Servillo (Gomorrah), who plays Andreotti like a mummified Alec Guinness, as if encased in layers of plaster of Paris. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Sorrentino's directorial flourishes are at least partly to blame for the lack of clarity; his ornate setpieces are frequently dazzling, but as they pile up over two hours, they wind up distracting as often as they illuminate. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: The enigmatic Andreotti is the perfect subject for a biopic in the European tradition. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Il Divo joins Matteo Garrone's more expansive, more extraordinary Gomorrah -- which contains an even better performance from Servillo -- as a grim portrait of the trouble with modern Italy. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: So much half-digested information is expelled, so many key incidents skate by, that the effect is like being force-fed a history lesson you never wanted to sit through in the first place. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: You need know nothing about Italian politics to completely enjoy the fantastical, Fellini-fied, tragi-comic, biographical fun-for-all Il Divo. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Simultaneously exhilarating and confounding, dazzling and confusing, this is filmmaking of such verve and style that you likely won't care that you can't follow it completely. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: You could dismiss Servillo's portrayal as a cartoon, but the great actors know that beneath the dark surface of caricature lies a heightened and vivifying truth, as potent as fortified wine. Consume with great caution, and with joy. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Director Paolo Sorrentino's knockout drama Il Divo concentrates on Andreotti's final government (1991-92) and subsequent legal battles. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: All in all, this phenomenal film illustrates Alexis de Tocqueville's observation that "The people get the government they deserve." In both meanings of the word, Il Divo is sensational. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: After I saw Il Divo, I suppose I should have felt indignation. I suppose I should also have felt that way after "The Godfather." But such films present such mesmerizing figures that I simply regard them, astonished. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Il Divo is best appreciated as the bizarre character study of an essentially unlovable man who somehow became one of his country's most successful leaders. Read more

Kristin Tillotson, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A must-see for political junkies of any nationality. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Unlike most political biopics, director Paolo Sorrentino's film is pure, exuberant razzle-dazzle, including ironic voice-over, playful graphics and a blackly humorous montage of the "natural" deaths that came to Andreotti's rivals. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: We may not know the man, but we know the dance, as seen in the highly diverting and hugely controversial Il Divo, a biopic as wly as its subject. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Il Divo taps into something that's indeed borderless: Americans recognize political corruption and backroom conspiracies even if we don't intimately know the players. Read more

Jay Weissberg, Variety: An intensely political film so wildly inventive and witty that it will become a touchstone for years to come. Read more

Ella Taylor, Village Voice: Hard on the heels of the acclaimed Gomorrah, Italian corruption gets a much quieter but equally vigorous workout in Paolo Sorrentino's highly stylized portrait of the country's most enduring political leader. Read more