The Kite Runner Critic Reviews

I'm of two minds about this. A movie that held on to all the breathless tearjerkery of the novel would probably have to star Bette Davis as Amir, but as amended by Forster the story is now touching and somewhat dull.Read the full review

Like "House of Sand and Fog" and "Man Push Cart," it helps us to understand that the newcomers among us come from somewhere and are somebody.Read the full review

In making a movie about the hot mess of Afghan history, a sense of reserve turns out to be a useful tool for peace.Read the full review

The Kite Runner is a house divided against itself. The Marc Forster-directed version of the Khaled Hosseini novel does one part of the story so well that its success underlines what's lacking in what remains.Read the full review

At times brutal, at times touching, the movie stands out as one of the better "prestige" productions offered for cinematic consumption during the waning weeks of 2007.Read the full review

Both boys give such heart-rending performances that fear of reprisals for participating in the scene persuaded the studio to postpone the film's release to give them time to leave Kabul.Read the full review

The terseness of Hosseini's prose has been replaced by the sentimentality of the director's approach.Read the full review

Mr. Forster, who previously directed “Monster’s Ball” and “Finding Neverland,” has been soundly defeated by The Kite Runner. Despite the film’s far-flung locations (it was shot primarily in China), there is remarkably little of visual interest here; the setups are banal, and the scenes lack tension, which no amount of editing can provide.Read the full review

It's okay to be manipulated, so long as you don't feel the strings being pulled. Here the tug is constant, and constantly distracting.Read the full review