Metacritic Movie Ratings
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 100

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  Mr. Lazarescu is that rich and riveting a film of universal small human moments and big-system failure.

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• 100

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  Like "United 93" and the work of the Dardenne brothers, it lives entirely in the moment, seeing what happens as it happens, drawing no conclusions, making no speeches, creating no artificial dramatic conflicts, just showing people living one moment after another, as they must.

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• 90

  out of 100

  Variety

  Picture's dour take on the dehumanizing process of medical treatment is leavened by black humor and dialogue that always rings true.

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• 80

  out of 100

  The New York TimesStephen Holden

  A thorny masterpiece.

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• 70

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan

  Though it is undeniably bleak and pessimistic and marked by a texture of observation worthy of British director Mike Leigh, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is not as forbidding as it sounds.

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• 70

  out of 100

  The Hollywood Reporter

  In this deep probe into modern-day medicine, the old guy is shuttled from hospital to hospital in a surreal, horrifying ordeal of errors, missed diagnoses and institutional malaise. At two hours and 34 minutes, we, seemingly, also endure his agony -- part of this Romanian film's power and, also, its Achilles heel.

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• 60

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  Needlessly long, visually drab and not just a foreign-language film, with English subtitles, but a film that's ostensibly foreign to our experience. That said, there are compelling reasons to see it.

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