EveningMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 45 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

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

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The constant shifting between today and years ago is, in and of itself, powerful. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    Whatever Evening is saying about life, death, and guilt isn't terribly new or interesting. Read full review

  • 63
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Susan Minot's resplendent novel of a dying womanstumbles on its way to the screen. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety | Justin Chang

    Individual moments are not without their felicitous touches -- mainly due to the cast, which is rich to the point of improbability. Read full review

  • 58
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    For all the creaminess of the sets and costumes, every character talks as if she is still made out of written words, not flesh, and each woman's struggles feel about as important as a tea dance. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    High-grade cheese, the sort of highly pitched melodrama that in the 1950s would have been the stuff of a lurid, lavishly staged Douglas Sirk picture. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    What a cast but what a disappointment. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    For all of its class-act bona fides, Evening lurches between the morose and the sentimental, with occasional incursions into the absurd. Read full review

  • 38
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    There are few things more depressing than a weeper that doesn't make you weep. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Doesn't seem as if it would translate easily to the big screen. It hasn't. Read full review

View more reviews for Evening on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Strong cast is best part of tragic romantic drama.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that the subject matter of this romantic drama -- mortality and pining for a lost love -- is profoundly sad. The relationships are complicated, bordering on scandalous (a love triangle between two men and a woman emerges, and one character who's about to be married propositions another on the eve of her wedding), and a thick pall of regret and death hangs over the film, which may be tough for young viewers to process. There's also plenty of drinking and smoking (not unexpected, given the '50s setting), and some cursing (mostly mild, with one notable use of "f--k"). If you're expecting the movie to be just like the book on which it's based, you may be disappointed.
  • Families can talk about how the movie presents love and regret. Do your kids think soul mates exist? Families can also discuss the way the film depicts death. Does Ann's long and somewhat tortured goodbye seem like a burden or a blessing to her children? Also, for those who have read Susan Minot's book, why do you think this movie is so different from its inspiration?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Enduring friendships, loyalty to family, and familial love are all highlighted. But on the other hand, a woman on the verge of getting married flirts and propositions another man, another woman verbally dresses down a character who's plainly vulnerable, and one man is clearly an alcoholic and indulges in destructive, alcohol-fueled behavior. In the present, characters deal with commitment and other long-unresolved issues.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: A key character is hit by a car; later, there's a close-up of his bloodied face. A shouting match between two main characters packs a hefty emotional punch.
  • sex false3 Sex: One couple shown in post-sex repose (bare legs and shoulders, but nothing else is visible); a fair amount of kissing. Men and women strip to their underwear before jump off a cliff to the sea below. Two friends make jokes about sex (but in a fairly genteel, 1950s way).
  • language false3 Language: One significant use of "f--k" otherwise, fairly innocuous, with the occasional "damn."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false5 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of drinking. One character is clearly an alcoholic, drinking constantly (often to the point of fall-down-drunkenness) and at all hours. There's also plenty of smoking, in keeping with the '50s setting.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

2.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… on-the-nose and full of itself. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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