68
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe movie is uncommonly absorbing.
- 90Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternBeautiful moments abound. In Departures, the contemplation of death prepares the way for an appreciation of life.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterYojiro 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.
- 80Village VoiceVillage VoiceDepartures is built for simplicity, and, if nothing else, the appeal to decency and integrity of this sweetly old-fashioned tale make it a must for Bernie Madoff's prison Netflix queue.
- 80NPRBob MondelloNPRBob MondelloIt will absolutely delight the art-house crowd. Multiplexes will be crowded with noisy summer films, after all, from which Departures will represent a sophisticated and elegant departure.
- 70VarietyEddie CockrellVarietyEddie CockrellTV 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.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanDepartures is tender and, at times, rather squishy. It's sure to squeeze the tear ducts of anyone who has lost a parent.
- 50New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinIt will resonate with anyone who has ever buried a loved one and struggled to reconcile the myriad emotions--grief, anger, helplessness. Which is to say, everyone. And yet out of this premise comes glop. Departures needed a little more work in the morgue--like cutting to the bone.
- 50The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottOverlong, predictable in its plotting and utterly banal in its blending of comic whimsy and melodramatic pathos.
- 42The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsHere's a great way to start savoring life: Don't waste it on pat manipulations like this.