57
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasA shimmering fable of innocence and experience set in contemporary Los Angeles and Pasadena (its title is a nod to Virgil's "Aeneid"). Phillip Jayson Lasker's tartly knowing script, with the kind of witty dialogue that's all but vanished from American movies, recalls Hickenlooper's "The Low Life."
- 70The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasLess a fantasy than a somber, enveloping mood piece, which is a large part of what makes it so strangely, irrationally compelling.
- 70VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyA fine cast further illuminates a felicitous script.
- 63New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardCraggy oldsters Mick Jagger and James Coburn steal the show from the young uns in The Man From Elysian Fields, a mostly entertaining twist on the Faust story about a writer who sells himself cheap.
- 60TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghIt's Jagger's bone-dry, mournfully brittle delivery that gives the film its bittersweet bite. Michael Des Barres and Anjelica Huston make the most of their supporting roles.
- 60The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensBy the end, after an hour and a half of wondering -- sometimes amusedly, sometimes impatiently -- just what this strenuously unconventional movie is supposed to be, you discover that the answer is as conventional as can be.
- 60L.A. WeeklyJohn PattersonL.A. WeeklyJohn PattersonDespite its dry wit and compassion, the film suffers from a philosophical emptiness and maddeningly sedate pacing, and, in the end, the only aspect of the movie that truly commands attention is Jagger's desperately inexpressive acting, which hasn’t improved one iota since "Ned Kelly."
- 58Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldSeattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldWonderfully cast but underwhelming and never especially believable.
- 50Miami HeraldMarta BarberMiami HeraldMarta BarberHas an elegant feel, with beautiful shots on the beach and engaging camera work. If only Philip Jayson Lasker's writing could match that.
- 30Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonFrom the get-go, the story remains bogged down in its rather limited morass.