Critic Reviews

Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) Rank 2 Reviews

Expert Review Summary

Movie critics combined give Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) a score of 3.2948 out of 4

based on (106) reviews

Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating

Excellent

(50)

Very Good

(46)

Good

(10)

Fair

(0)

Poor

(0)

Reviews by Score:

Film-Forward.com (Kent Turner)

A small-scale film on a grand-sized canvas: director Julian Schnabel and his cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, meet the challenge of adapting ... Bauby's 1997 memoir. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Film-Forward.com (Kent Turner)

Wall Street Journal (Joe Morgenstern)

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is unsparing and inspiring in equal measure. The camera immediately puts us in the position of its hero, a man regaining consciousness after a catastrophic stroke that has left him lucid but almost completely paralyzed. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Wall Street Journal (Joe Morgenstern)

Boxoffice Magazine (Richard Mowe)

In this way, the viewer is given the chance to experience the same confusion and disorientation as Dauby as he awakens in his hospital bed and begins to realize he can neither move nor speak. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Richard Mowe)

San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)

It would be inhuman not to empathize with the actual man's plight, but the movie is a sophisticated prod, pushing us inside its own Bauby. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)

Video Reviews With Joan Ellis (Joan Ellis)

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is harrowing. Director Julian Schnabel brings us so skillfully into this sad true story that we are left in silent despair when it is over. The film is an absorbing ordeal of a grim reality. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Video Reviews With Joan Ellis (Joan Ellis)

Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)

One of the most highly praised films at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival was Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)

Slant Magazine (Nick Schager)

A textbook example of a director prizing himself over his material. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Slant Magazine (Nick Schager)

european-films.net (Boyd van Hoeij)

An arresting true story and a ravishing visual creation, but the two remain separate entities that do not support one another but get in each other's way instead. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at european-films.net (Boyd van Hoeij)

Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)

Engaging, moving, and even has a good message, but it's also a film that slips in the follow through. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)

USA Today (Claudia Puig)

Whereas the book was lyrical and moving, the movie is surrealistic and inventive. The film version of the best-selling memoir The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is visually arresting and a tribute to the power of imagination, but it is not as emotionally ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)

from $13.78