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Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) Rank 4 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
4
Excellent
(50)
Very Good
3
Very Good
(46)
Good
2
Good
(10)
Fair
1
Fair
(0)
Poor
0
Poor
(0)
Reviews by Score:
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)
This genius collaboration between director of photography Janusz Kaminski and Schnabel immerses you in Bauby's situation so that it becomes your reality. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Reeling Reviews (Robin Clifford)Reeling Reviews (Robin Clifford)
...kind of film that surprises you when the credits roll. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Reeling Reviews (Robin Clifford)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Onion AV Club (Tasha Robinson)Onion AV Club (Tasha Robinson)
The putative film adaptation reaches well beyond the contents of that book, expanding its philosophical resignation into a grim but beautiful visual poem. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Onion AV Club (Tasha Robinson)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
In a perfect match of director and subject, artist Julian Schnabel adapts the memoir by late Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby into a compelling and intense look at one man's experience with locked-in syndrome. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
Anyone who has read Jean-Dominique Bauby's slim, extraordinary 1997 memoir "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is likely to wonder how it could possibly be made into a movie. In 1995 Bauby, then 43 and the editor of French Elle, suffered a stroke that ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Newsday (Jan Stuart)Newsday (Jan Stuart)
The visual lyricism and irascible humor of Julian Schnabel's screen adaptation make for a life-against-the-odds drama like none you've ever seen. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Newsday (Jan Stuart)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
The film is a visual and auditory feast. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Metromix.com (Matt Pais)Metromix.com (Matt Pais)
Not a movie that you shake off easily -- maybe ever -- and one that makes you want to go out and gulp down every ounce of life you can squeeze into your glass. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Metromix.com (Matt Pais)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for New York Post (Lou Lumenick)New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
Yes, it's in French and it's arty (in good ways) - but I promise you won't have a more viscerally emotional experience at the movies this year. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
It is wonderful: a rhapsodic adaptation of a memoir, a visual marvel that wraps its subject in screen romanticism without romanticizing his affliction. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
Director Julian Schnabel uses his skill as a painter to assemble a collage of fantastical images to reveal the exquisite physical wreck that Bauby has become. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Reeling Reviews (Laura Clifford)Reeling Reviews (Laura Clifford)
Screenwriter Ronald Harwood has cracked a book largely thought unfilmable and director Julian Schnabel working with DP Janusz Kaminski has created a uniquely visual film about one of the most difficult movie subgenres, the biography of an author. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Reeling Reviews (Laura Clifford)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
A remarkably fluent and genuinely uplifting picture about a paralyzed man...no solemn, calculating tearjerker but a marvelously rich and fluid evocation. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
In a perfect match of director and subject, artist Julian Schnabel adapts the memoir by late Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby into a compelling and intense look at one man's experience with locked-in syndrome. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)
A film that haunts and inspires. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Denver Post (--)Denver Post (--)
He was the editor of French Elle, the father of two young children, a husband, a son. The list of roles that forged his elevated place in his world was lengthy. When he awoke in room 119 at the Naval hospital at Berck-sur-Mer near the French Channel, ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Denver Post (--)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
A film of rare imagination; a collage of unnerving images and great artistry. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly may be the most unusual movie experience of the year. And it's unquestionably one of the best. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Here is the life force at its most insistent, lashing out against fate with stubborn resolve. And also with lust, hunger, humor and all of the other notes that this man once played so easily. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tells one extraordinary man's story so well that it reflects vividly on our own. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Like Bauby's memoir, Schnabel and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood's adaptation is far from a mushy exercise in never-say-die optimism -- it's suffused with Bauby's terror and bitterness. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
By delivering Bauby's story in an appropriately straightforward tone, the filmmakers behind "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" prove that engaging stories work best without artificial sweetening. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Associated Press (Christy Lemire)Associated Press (Christy Lemire)
Astonishingly beautiful and self-consciously so. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Associated Press (Christy Lemire)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Globe and Mail (--)Globe and Mail (--)
Stanley Kubrick said that books that were generally not considered cinematic often made the best films because they left the directors free to imagine. That's certainly the case with The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, painter-filmmaker Julian Schnabel's ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Globe and Mail (--)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for New York Magazine (David Edelstein)New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Schnabel re-creates Jean-Do's constricted universe from the inside out, and the film becomes an act of sympathetic disjunction. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the most beautiful movie ever made about a man who could only move one eyelid -- almost dangerously beautiful. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
An astonishing, deeply moving film, Schnabel's third film is also his masterpiece, thanks to extraordinary direction, stunning camerawork, a terrific script and an Oscar-worthy central performance from Amalric. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Film Journal International (Wendy Weinstein)Film Journal International (Wendy Weinstein)
The film, aided by Amalric's pitch-perfect performance, reveals the range of Jean-Do's emotional life, his anger, joy and wry humor. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Film Journal International (Wendy Weinstein)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Variety (Justin Chang)Variety (Justin Chang)
Most compelling in its attempts to re-create the experience of paralysis onscreen, gorgeously lensed pic morphs into a dreamlike collage of memories and fantasies, distancing the viewer somewhat from Bauby's consciousness. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Variety (Justin Chang)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Spirituality and Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)Spirituality and Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
A classic in the literature of illness brought to the screen with all its creative juices intact, the film salutes the firepower of imagination as a life-giver and a life-sustainer. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Spirituality and Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for CinemaBlend.com (Joshua Tyler)CinemaBlend.com (Joshua Tyler)
The film is so stuffed with visual poetry and moving turns of phrase that it practically takes flight. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at CinemaBlend.com (Joshua Tyler)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
...a film that's as emotionally devastating as it is engrossing. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly would seem to be the last word in affliction movies. But it goes against that movie formula at every turn and proves to be a unique experience. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Likely to divide critics due to its surreal style, biopic of Elle's paralyzed editor continues Schnabel's exploration of misfit artists that began in Basquiat and continued in Before Night Falls; in emotional impact it recalls My Left Foot and Sea Inside ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)
The remarkable story of a man almost totally incapacitated who creates a best-seller by blinking his left eye is about the creation of art as much as it is the tale of human tragedy. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for eFilmCritic.com (Brian Orndorf)eFilmCritic.com (Brian Orndorf)
While punishing to watch at times, it's something you can't quite keep your eyes off of. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Brian Orndorf)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for ComingSoon.net (Edward Douglas)ComingSoon.net (Edward Douglas)
As close to perfection as you'll get for a movie dealing with a subject matter that might seem impossible to handle in an entertaining way. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at ComingSoon.net (Edward Douglas)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for ReelTalk Movie Reviews (Jeffrey Chen)ReelTalk Movie Reviews (Jeffrey Chen)
Diving Bell , though uncompromising in its own way, comes across as aggressively watchable. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at ReelTalk Movie Reviews (Jeffrey Chen)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
I don't usually fawn - but here I go. Director Julian Schnabel is a brilliant filmmaker. His previous films ( Before Night Falls and Basquiat) are pieces of art to be watched over and over again. His latest film is more challenging to a mass audience but ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for NewsBlaze (Prairie Miller)NewsBlaze (Prairie Miller)
Delves into the horrific destiny and triumphant creative, if not physical struggle of this French celebrity, whose stroke left him completely paralyzed save for interior silent monologues, and the furiously blinking eye of this ill-fated ravaged cyclops. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at NewsBlaze (Prairie Miller)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Ruthless Reviews (--)Ruthless Reviews (--)
Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), editor of Elle France -- handsome, successful, and full of life -- was suddenly and inexplicably stricken with a massive stroke of such force that, with the exception of a lone left eye, he was left paralyzed from ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Ruthless Reviews (--)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Plume Noire (--)Plume Noire (--)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly possesses all the weapons needed to seduce the public, the critics and the festival jury. A difficult subject based on a true story, a mise en scène rich in proposals, a clever mix of tones, alternating tears and cynical ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Plume Noire (--)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for New York Press (Armond White)New York Press (Armond White)
Tells a real person's life story so inventively you might forget how rotten recent biopics have been. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at New York Press (Armond White)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for New Yorker (David Denby)New Yorker (David Denby)
A gloriously unlocked experience, with some of the freest and most creative uses of the camera and some of the most daring, cruel, and heartbreaking emotional explorations that have appeared in recent movies. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at New Yorker (David Denby)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Slate (Dana Stevens)Slate (Dana Stevens)
With the help of brilliant French actor Mathieu Amalric, Spielberg's longtime cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, and screenwriter Ronald Harwood, Schnabel has made a marvelous film that uses images with as much grace and flair as Bauby used words. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Slate (Dana Stevens)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Leo Goldsmith)Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Leo Goldsmith)
Even if Schnabel's films utilize a rolodex as burgeoning as their film's visual inventiveness, they still do so playfully and with a sense of the fun of moviemaking that so few films of similar lineage display. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Leo Goldsmith)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for ReelViews (James Berardinelli)ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
For many people, there is no hell more unimaginable than having a healthy, active mind trapped in a paralyzed husk of a body. Some of those in this situation seek a quick end to their misery (as was the case with Ramon Sampedro, whose tale was dramatized ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Screen International (--)Screen International (--)
An astonishing assertion of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, Jean-Dominique Bauby's The Diving Bell And The Butterfly was one of the publishing sensations of the 1990s, selling in excess of 1 million copies. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Screen International (--)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Cinematical (James Rocchi)Cinematical (James Rocchi)
Imagine a Spike Jonze-Charlie Kauffman-Michel Gondry-style film but with a warm, beating heart instead of cool, detached hipster irony. ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Cinematical (James Rocchi)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Hollywood Reporter (Ray Bennett)Hollywood Reporter (Ray Bennett)
Director Julian Schnabel and screenwriter Ronald Harwood have performed a small miracle in adapting for the screen Jean-Dominique Bauby's autobiography The Diving Bell and the Butterfly . ...read the complete Diving Bell and the Butterfly movie review at Hollywood Reporter (Ray Bennett)
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Movie Reviews: Adaptation
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) Reviews
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007)

RANKINGS:

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Ratings and rankings are based on number of movie, review scores, awards & other criteria.
Overall Rating:
3.2919
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
Avg Critic Score:
3.2948
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
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