54
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleQualifies as director Giuseppe Tornatore's second full-fledged masterpiece. His first: "Cinema Paradiso."
- 90Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasMalena the film is as beautiful and seductive as its heroine, with its ravishing Lajos Koltai cinematography and sweepingly romantic Ennio Morricone score.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyPhiladelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyGives audiences something more than just a heart-stopping beauty to contemplate.
- 70The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenWhat begins as a blushing, priapic opera buffa about coming of age turns into a verismo shocker, before softening into something mellower.
- 70Village VoiceDennis LimVillage VoiceDennis LimA nostalgic coming-of-age sex comedy tastefully lecherous enough to indicate that its intended demographic is several decades past puberty.
- 67Portland OregonianKim MorganPortland OregonianKim MorganIntriguing, containing a truthful kernel of sweetness, rot and brutality that will shock many.
- 63Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittStriking photography, period detail, screen-filling crowd scenes, and veteran composer Morricone's score make this one worth seeing, but the sheer nastiness of the town's people drags it down.
- 50USA TodayMike ClarkUSA TodayMike ClarkThere's definitely some paradiso in watching Malena walking, but not enough to sustain almost two hours of cinema.
- 50Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumSomewhere in writer-director Giuseppe Tornatore's overstyled movie, about a 12-year-old boy (Sulfaro) during the Italian fascist period who has the hots for a mistreated war widow (Belluci), is a pretty good short story about the fickleness of community and the cruelty of gossip struggling to get out.
- 10Film.comHenry Cabot BeckFilm.comHenry Cabot BeckIn the end, Malena is an unlikable and foul farce, unworthy of Tornatore's previously gentle touch.