Life Is Beautiful (1997) Critic Reviews
Metascore®:
Based upon 12 Critic ReviewsHighest Rated
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To see someone even attempt bittersweet treatment of this subject is surprising, but to largely pull it off is a major feat.Read the full review
Finds the right notes to negotiate its delicate subject matter.Read the full review
The concept is not so much nihilistic as it is realistic, and the fact that Benigni has made such fine distinctions so powerfully clear is amazing and moving.Read the full review
Benigni effectively creates a situation in which comedy is courage. And he draws from this an unpretentious, enormously likable film that plays with history both seriously and mischievously. Piety has no place here, nor do tears until the final reel. Life is Beautiful plays by its own rulesRead the full review
In one bold stride, Benigni has set himself apart from the rank and file of funnymen, joining the elite class of clowns who know that humor and heartbreak are only a howl of pain apart.Read the full review
It's the depiction of the love and sacrifice of a father for a son that makes Life is Beautiful worthwhile.Read the full review
Sluggish, uneven and lacking in rhythm, it nonetheless has enough pathos and winning humor.Read the full review
While it celebrates the triumph of humor, invention and the human spirit, Life Is Beautiful is not the transporting experience it might have been. Benigni knows how to make us laugh, but he has not yet figured out how to make us cry.Read the full review
Starts out as sentimental whimsy and ends as sentimental kitsch.Read the full review
While it's futile to pretend that Life Is Beautiful completely triumphs--it's simply too tough a concept to sustain--what is surprising about this unlikely film is that it succeeds as well as it does.Read the full review
