97
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMy Left Foot is a great film for many reasons, but the most important is that it gives us such a complete picture of this man's life. It is not an inspirational movie, although it inspires. It is not a sympathetic movie, although it inspires sympathy. It is the story of a stubborn, difficult, blessed and gifted man who was dealt a bad hand, who played it brilliantly, and who left us some good books, some good paintings and the example of his courage.
- 100Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThroughout his life, Brown refused to give in to public convention or his own despair; he wouldn't play the victim. Brown labored to express all of his feelings, not just the acceptable ones. Day Lewis works the same way. My Left Foot, a keen match of actor and subject, stands as an eloquent tribute to the talents of both.
- 100Washington PostHal HinsonWashington PostHal HinsonMy Left Foot is gloriously exultant and hilariously unexpected...Sheridan and his great young star have universalized their broken hero.
- 100TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineA rich cinematic experience, this uplifting British production will leave you in awe of the extraordinary Christy Brown.
- 100Time Out LondonTime Out LondonDay Lewis' re-creation of writer/painter Christy Brown's condition is so precise, so detailed and so matter-of-fact that it transcends the carping about casting an actor without cerebral palsy. He couldn't have done it better.
- 90The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyAn intelligent, beautifully acted adaptation.
- 90Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumDay-Lewis's performance is necessarily a bit showy—one has to strain at times to understand all his dialogue because of the character's contorted features—but he puts on a terrific drunk scene, and for all his character's travails the film as a whole winds up surprisingly upbeat.
- 88Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSlant MagazineEd GonzalezOne hundred and six minutes is entirely too short a time span for Sheridan to cover Christy's entire life, but the performances are so profound they successfully fill in any and all gaps.
- 80EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoA rounded portrayal that leaves an overwhelming sense of the miraculousness of life.