54
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75New York PostSara StewartNew York PostSara StewartMarie’s Story will feel familiar, which is mostly a tribute to the enduring power of Helen Keller’s biography.
- 70Village VoiceMarsha McCreadieVillage VoiceMarsha McCreadieTo play Marie today, Améris found the non-actor Ariana Rivoire at the Institute for the Deaf. And Rivoire is a revelation — showing what it's like to be in, and then break out of, a world of total darkness and silence.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijThe Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijBased on a true story that's perhaps less famous than some others but just as intriguing, this serious-minded — no Helen Keller jokes, please — period film is nonetheless quite entertaining and, finally, moving.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeA quarter-century ago, such an assured, emotionally satisfying French offering as this could have done significant business in the States, the way films like “Jean de Florette” once did.
- 50The DissolveMike D'AngeloThe DissolveMike D'AngeloAnyone who’s seen The Miracle Worker in any form will find Marie’s Story very familiar, and even perhaps a bit rote.
- 50The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThough based on a remarkable true story, this clichéd tear-jerker is barely interested in Marguerite’s revolutionary teaching methods, focusing instead on the intensity of her connection to Marie.
- 50Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanThe movie by Jean-Pierre Améris milks the tears in the home stretch, making little effort to hold the melodrama at bay. The result is a story that everyone can feel great about feeling terrible about.
- 50Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenLos Angeles TimesSheri LindenAt its most provocative, it suggests a tension between spirit and flesh in the nun's maternal feelings. Rather than examine that friction, Améris pushes the narrative in predictable directions.
- 38Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardThe film is unable to specify narrative urgency beyond a broad sense of "based on a true story" pathos that's by turns hollowly uplifting and tragic.