Movie Review for Starting Out in the Evening

Summary: Heather Wolfe, a 24-year-old graduate student, forces a meeting with broken-down Leonard Schiller, an out-of-print, sick old writer whose early works, written during the heyday of 1940s and 1950s New York intellectualism, forever changed Heather's life. Targeted as the subject of Heather's master's thesis, Schiller quickly falls under the seductive promise of her admiration, much to the distress of Ariel, his 39-year-old daughter, whose own struggles with failed romance and childlessness derail her energy. These mismatched souls gradually realize that their individual journeys, which they thought were drawing to a close, are in fact new beginnings.

                         Reviews of Starting Out in the Evening
By Marcy Dermansky of About.com (7/0)
            The early scenes are electric with sexual tension, smart dialogue, and terrific performances - es...

By Wesley Morris of Boston Globe (7/0)
            ...a gentle collection of scenes that work and scenes that don't.

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            ...a film about people who think literature is worth devoting a lifetime to. People who think gre...

By Jules Brenner of Cinema Signals (7/0)
            Langella's "aging" as a result of a stroke is even more impressive than his artful revelations of...

By James Rocchi of Cinematical (7/0)
             It would be easy to pass by Starting Out in the Evening through any one of a number of possible ...

By Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net (7/0)
            Frank Langella and Lili Taylor give great performances in what is essentially another painfully s...

                         Reviews of Starting Out in the Evening
By Emanuel Levy of EmanuelLevy.Com (7/0)
            Andrew Wagner's mature, sharply observed, quietly intense drama about the shifting relationship b...

By Doris Toumarkine of Film Journal International (7/0)
            A heap of preciousness and pretensions that puts words and literary references to the fore.

By Blake French of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            ...an honest, intricate, and affectionate portrait...

By James Greenberg of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
            Complex and satisfying New York literary drama.

By Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope (7/0)
            Sharp dialogue and strong acting, but not much dramatic energy.

By Nick Schager of Lessons of Darkness (7/0)
            Shrewder than it initially lets on, primarily because it refuses to schematically pigeonhole its ...

                         Reviews of Starting Out in the Evening
By Matt Pais of Metromix.com (7/0)
            Both empowered by words and inspired by the limitless expression that comes from an articulate, w...

By Jack Mathews of New York Daily News (7/0)
            Unusual and absolutely riveting.

By David Edelstein of New York Magazine (7/0)
            This is what great screen acting is about.

By Rex Reed of New York Observer (7/0)
            Excellent, deeply introspective performances by Frank Langella and the phenomenal Lauren Ambrose ...

By Lou Lumenick of New York Post (7/0)
            It really doesn't get much better than Frank Langella's career-capping per formance.

By David Ansen of Newsweek (7/0)
            Refreshingly subtle.

                         Reviews of Starting Out in the Evening
By Glenn Kenny of Premiere Magazine (7/0)
            [Langella's] sometimes halting but always beautifully articulated line deliveries impeccably conv...

By Kevin Koehler of Pretentious Musings (7/0)
            Andrew Wagner shouldn't take it personally that I dislike his movie with such passion.

By David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews (7/0)
            ...it's impossible to overstate the effectiveness of Langella's work here...

By Michelle Orange of Reeler (7/0)
            A poised, surprisingly unsettling film about the half-life -- and twilight -- of a fiction writer...

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            A gentle, unhurried drama about how people can connect with each other through conversation, nonv...

By Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (7/0)
            Remarkable film, indelibly marked by Langella's deeply felt portrait of a lion in winter.

                         Reviews of Starting Out in the Evening
By Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            Unfortunately, director and co-writer Andrew Wagner compounds the difficulty by wallowing in the ...

By William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            ...the performances carry the day.

By Jason Clark of Slant Magazine (7/0)
            Self-contained and silly.

By Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com (7/0)
            A wise, low-key drama where the characters' humane, accurately written interactions take preceden...

By David Fear of Time Out New York (5/2)
            At what point does watching someone try to single-handedly enliven flat, forced material -- and u...

By Scott Foundas of Variety (7/0)
            Director Andrew Wagner draws topnotch work from a pro cast in Starting Out in the Evening, a wise...

                         Reviews of Starting Out in the Evening
By Ella Taylor of Village Voice (7/0)
            This wise, observant, and exquisitely tacit chamber piece complicates every May-December, academi...

By A. O. Scott of New York Times (3/4) No reference
            It has the quiet beauty of a late afternoon, late in the autumn, when New York seems to be not ju...

By Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews (3/4) No reference
            Its appeal is to a select audience, probably one that reads books that Oprah doesn't recommend.

By Harvey S. Karten of Compuserve (3/4) Not Reachable
            In a role that reminds one of Peter O'Toole's in 'Venus,' Frank Langella is receiving buzz as a p...

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