DeparturesMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Departures."

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Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The movie is uncommonly absorbing. Read full review

  • 90
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Beautiful moments abound. In Departures, the contemplation of death prepares the way for an appreciation of life. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times |

    The film manages to be anything but dark; whimsy and sweet irony are laced throughout, a warmhearted blend that turned it into the surprise winner of 2008's Oscar for foreign-language film. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Though events unravel predictably, the film is profoundly affecting, thanks to a well-written story, rich characters and superlative acting. Read full review

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    Yojiro Takita, who directed enduring commercial hits like "The Ying Yang Master" and "The Yen Family," has made a popular gem -- thematically respectable, technically hard to fault, artfully scripted to entertain and touch. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Walter Addiego

    The film is far from perfect but has enough going on to compensate for its excessive length and some sentimentality. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Eddie Cockrell

    TV scribe Kundo Koyama's first bigscreen script peppers the proceedings with rich character detail and near-screwball interludes that shouldn't fit but somehow do. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Philip Kennicott

    It is as polished as it is heavy-handed, and it leaves one under a spell. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Departures is tender and, at times, rather squishy. It's sure to squeeze the tear ducts of anyone who has lost a parent. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    Overlong, predictable in its plotting and utterly banal in its blending of comic whimsy and melodramatic pathos. Read full review

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