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The Artist's Wife

2019

Lena Olin, Bruce Dern, Juliet Rylance, Avan Jogia ...

Drama Claire Smythson, wife of the renowned abstract artist Richard Smythson, is plunged into a late-life crisis when her husband is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and is in danger of not completing the paintings for his final show.

	Author	Review
United States	Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter	"Despite its value in providing superb starring turns by Lena Olin and Bruce Dern, the film never manages to overcome its air of familiarity."	NEU
United States	Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"[It] can, at times, come off as a collage of other, better movies (...) Olin is always an electric, sensual performer, no doubt about it, and she is the film’s saving grace (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Anthony Lane The New Yorker	"It opts for plangency, with a musical score applied like a gentle balm, and a plot that hungers for healing—absurdly so, given the incurable nature of Richard’s plight.	NEG
Canada	Barry Hertz The Globe and Mail	"I’m sure Dolby had a choice as to whether or not film 'The Artist’s Wife', though I cannot for the life of me decide why going forward was the only option (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Joe Leydon Variety	"Lena Olin and Bruce Dern excel (...) If 'The Artist’s Wife' stands apart from the pack, it’s largely because (...) [it] focuses more on the psychic toll taken on a loyal life partner whose selflessness is running on empty"	POS
United States	Jeannette Catsoulis The New York Times	"Padded with clunky metaphors (...) Thanks to the subtleties of Olin’s performance (...) [it] feels less about dementia than the price of nurturing another’s artistic vision"	NEU
Canada	Thomas Wishloff In The Seats	"'The Artist’s Wife' never really manages to find the spark it is looking for (...) Interesting moments are present, but they’re the outliers here (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Glenn Kenny rogerebert.com	"The dénouement of 'The Artist’s Wife', wasting compassion on a character who has earned only the minimum, winds up fully validating an ideology and morality that is complicit in women’s oppression (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Beth Webb Empire	"Lacking the boldness of originality and substantial character development, 'The Artist’s Wife' nonetheless showcases Olin’s best performance in years and a brittle brilliance from Dern (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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