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MIDNIGHT'S CHILDRENMovie Reviews
English and Hindi language drama about the lives of two boys, switched at birth, who were born at the moment India gained independence from the British Raj. Cast:Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Ronit Roy, Siddharth, Seema Biswas, Shriya Saran, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Darsheel Safary, Anita Majumdar, Shikha Talsania, Rahul Bose, Zaib Shaikh, Samrat ChakrabartiDirector:Deepa MehtaRelease Date:April 26, 2013DVD Release: TBD Length:2 hr. 28 min.
Midnight's Children, Good (Not Great) Reviews Key Cities
Midnight's Children opened in key cities to good not great reviews. • Stephen Farber wrote in the Hollywood Reporter, "There are moments of wit and charm.... [but] the film reaches its tender conclusion without ever achieving the emotional or dramatic heft that such an epic tale requires." More Reviews Below...
Midnight's Children Positive Reviews (20 Reviews, reviews below)
Claudia Puig, USA Today: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...entwines personal sagas with India's turbulent political history... sweeping, but suffers from a lack of cohesion. It is, however, beautiful to behold."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 540 words, 05/10/13
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Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...visually resplendent.... the performances are solid.... we get a historical analogy here, a moment of magical realism there. But where, we have to ask, is all the poetry?"(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 279 words, 04/26/13
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...a real head-scratcher.... The overall effect is of a flavorless feast, with the movie's few mystical leaps clunkily handled.... feels regrettably literal."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 225 words, 05/03/13
Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...no masterpiece, but neither is it a disaster. In its steady great-books way, the film is often truthful and moving. The plot sprawls all over everywhere..."(See all of Farran Smith Nehme's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 231 words, 04/26/13
John Anderson, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "There are reasons that Rushdie wrote a 533-page novel... Rather than distill all that into potent cinema, Mehta has given us something as pale as it is panoramic."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 293 words, 05/03/13
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Deepa Mehta has crafted an epic, visually pleasing tale weaving politics, colourful splendour, romantic love and magic with her most ambitious film to date..."(See all of Linda Barnard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 689 words, 11/02/12
Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "Watching this too-literal movie is like peeking in on the gorgeous highlights of the novel.... This is no way to appreciate -- or even make sense of -- its complex totality."(See all of Alan Scherstuhl's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 750 words, 04/24/13
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "It takes a while to rev up, but this adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel turns into an absorbing story with a strong emotional core."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 151 words, 11/01/12
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The ensemble cast offers bright performances tempered to the fable-like nature of the narrative, but too often limited screen time undermines the characters' impact."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 493 words, 11/02/12
KEY CITIES (5 Reviews)
Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Along with lovely cinematography, the cast is excellent... They offer up characters worth watching, if only we could see their stories thoroughly develop."(See all of Stephanie Merry's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 428 words, 05/03/13
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "The recurring theme here is that whenever political leaders govern by exclusion, people like Saleem will fight for inclusion."(See all of Carrie Rickey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 492 words, 05/10/13
Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...feels both too packed and too slight, overflowing with vivid details but lacking the structure to support their weight.... If the adaptation is serviceable, it's also dull..."(See all of Barbara VanDenburgh's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 444 words, 05/10/13
Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "The director has taken on a daunting task, and the result, while far from negligible, feels like a Cook's tour of this complex and sprawling work."(See all of Walter Addiego's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 56 words, 05/17/13
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: EXCELLENT(cg) "The only readily recognizable actor in the film is Charles Dance, who puts a Tywin Lannister spin on the haughty paragon of British racist colonialism he plays."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 327 words, 05/08/13
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (5 Reviews)
Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "Watching this too-literal movie is like peeking in on the gorgeous highlights of the novel.... This is no way to appreciate -- or even make sense of -- its complex totality."(See all of Alan Scherstuhl's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 750 words, 04/24/13
Andrew Schenker, Slant: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "In Salman Rushdie's 1981 Booker Prize-winning novel, the personal is political, but too often in Deepa Meetha's screen version, the personal is just personal."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 514 words, 04/21/13
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "It takes a while to rev up, but this adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel turns into an absorbing story with a strong emotional core."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 151 words, 11/01/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: POOR(cg) "...feels like fantasy that cannot commit to itself... Salman Rushdie himself wrote the screenplay, and he manages to slip some of his lovely, lively prose into the narration..."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 346 words, 10/17/12
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...a real head-scratcher.... The overall effect is of a flavorless feast, with the movie's few mystical leaps clunkily handled.... feels regrettably literal."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 225 words, 05/03/13
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...sprawling, hyper-saturated... boils over with passion every step of the way.... It's a vibrant journey, but not a terribly illuminating one..."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 589 words, 09/07/12
Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "There are moments of wit and charm.... [but] the film reaches its tender conclusion without ever achieving the emotional or dramatic heft that such an epic tale requires."(See all of Stephen Farber's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 542 words, 09/02/12
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...a real head-scratcher.... The overall effect is of a flavorless feast, with the movie's few mystical leaps clunkily handled.... feels regrettably literal."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 225 words, 05/03/13
13.5 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Midnight's Children's reviews are separated by an average 13.5 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Midnight's Children (20 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Midnight's Children's reviews cover 22.3% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 8,740 words involume (average is 20,221 words). Length:The film's reviews average 437 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Midnight's Children Coverage, Volume & Length (20 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 22 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.3 Release)
Midnight's Children's reviews on average broke 22 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.3 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Midnight's Children's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Midnight's Children (20 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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