45
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversBrosnan, on a roll with this film and "The Ghost Writer," vividly etches the emotional fissures in a man coming apart. The Greatest takes a piece out of you.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceFirst-time writer-director Shana Feste has made an uneven but often affecting film that requires its gifted cast to push hard against the script's schematic plotting to find moments of real emotion.
- Unfortunately, though its heart is smack in the right place, The Greatest tends to play more like a collection of appropriate, well-acted scenes than as a fully satisfying narrative.
- 50The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasIt’s when the small moments become large ones that Feste overreaches and the shaky performances don’t bail her out.
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliWhat a waste of a talented cast! There are times when it can be depressing to see so much acting potential wasted on a script unable to elicit the best from its stars, and this is one such occasion.
- 40Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearGiven that Sarandon played this same role so sublimely before in "Moonlight Mile," her devolution into theatrical rending of garments and gnashing of teeth is particularly disappointing, but no one--not Brosnan’s shell-shocked–by-numbers patriarch nor Mulligan’s wide-eyed waif--comes out of this steroidal pity party unscathed.
- 40New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDignity dies a million deaths despite the best intentions.
- 40TimeMary PolsTimeMary PolsThe Greatest often feels like a mash-up of Sarandon's greatest grief hits.
- 30The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenNot even the skillful performances of its stars, Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan, playing the boy’s parents, can cover up the mysterious gaps in continuity of a screenplay whose thudding dialogue spells out every emotion while refusing to clarify many crucial plot details.