Lovelace 2013

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: There's a lot in this story about victimization and agency that Mr. Epstein and Mr. Friedman never satisfactorily address. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Lovelace is a respectable job, but it never goes deep. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: With the exception of good-natured porn vet Harry Reems (Adam Brody), everyone here is out to tear a piece off Linda Lovelace, whoever she was: Messrs. Epstein and Friedman don't really get to what made her tick, although one can guess. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Epstein and Friedman opt for the most broadly entertaining and salacious details about the 1972 porn film, giving short shrift to Lovelace's complicated contradictions. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, AV Club: Actually playing up the story's tabloid splashiness, only to lay on the scold later, seems like a case of having one's cake and eating it, too-not to mention a bit cheap. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Compelling, in its way, but you can't help thinking there is more to the story. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman spin two versions of the story of the ingenue who starred in the most successful porn film of all time. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: This drama from codirectors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman is so respectful of 70s porn sensation Linda Lovelace that instead of humanizing the Deep Throat star, it reduces her to one dimension: victim. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The re-creations of the era are artful, and the acting's strong. Seyfried and Sarsgaard have a lot to play, and attack the material fiercely and honestly. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The familiar arc is complete, the grisly elements all ring true. But somehow it all feels too surface, too easy. Why, why, why? There must have been more. Read more

Melissa Maerz, Entertainment Weekly: Reduces her troubled life to scenes of sex and violence so cartoonish they should've been relegated to a hair-metal video. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Smartly done account of the trials and tribulations of the first porn star. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: A timid gloss on a hardcore subject. Read more

David Thomson, The New Republic: It is made by documentarians who show more concern for feminism than for fiction or fantasy. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: This movie is short on nuance, but at least it treats Lovelace with a respect she didn't often find in her difficult life. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Seyfried, with her huge features crowding her small face, looks like Alice in a very strange Wonderland. But whatever possibilities she may have as an actress are eradicated by the filmmakers ... Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It has a pair of terrific performances at its center, and an intriguing story. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Ultimately, the movie relies as heavily as any porn feature on its intrepid female lead. Rather than exploiting Seyfried, however, Lovelace just sort of wastes her. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: The superficial script doesn't go nearly deep enough to begin explaining Lovelace. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Unfortunately, most of Lovelace is more generic and familiar, right down to the too-neat happy ending. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Lovelace" is a well-made but grim film. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Amanda Seyfried looks ripe to take on the life of Linda Lovelace, the Deep Throat blow-job queen who made porn accessible to 1970s America. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Seyfried's performance is worth the price of admission. But Linda Lovelace deserved something more. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The whole story, in just five words: Linda met the wrong guy. A miserable, dispiriting story, but done so well that the experience is galvanizing, not depressing. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Lovelace bids to whip up hot indignation about an outrage four decades old. Instead, it provokes dismay. Read more

Adam Nayman, Globe and Mail: Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman settle for a titillating, exploitative snapshot instead of a fully rounded portrait. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Co-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman never quite pull it off - although you can see how they might have. Read more

Todd Gilchrist, TheWrap: "Lovelace" becomes too distracted by industry politics and the cultural context of the film's release to provide more than a snapshot of her life either before or after she stepped in front of a camera. Read more

Anna Smith, Time Out: Linda's feelings are rarely revealed: that's left to the gloomy final act, which feels more like a guilt-inducing postscript than a genuine reveal. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Don't look to this skin-deep biopic to offer any insights beyond the head-slappingly superficial. Read more

Rob Nelson, Variety: Reducing an immensely disturbing, politically byzantine tale to a series of cartoonish vignettes, this celeb-studded biopic squanders a gutsy performance by Amanda Seyfried. Read more

Amy Nicholson, Village Voice: With Deep Throat on DVD, it's still possible to see every inch of Linda Lovelace without ever seeing the woman herself in focus. Lovelace, ahem, blows it. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Its maudlin third act mars what is, for much of the film, a pretty nuanced and well-acted biopic, as well as something of a cultural critique. Read more