Kathy Fennessy Seattle Film Blog Jul 31, 2024 3/4

I wish [Mike] Mills had dug even deeper. I found Beginners charming, but not as moving as I expected. Still, I would recommend this delicately directed film.

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Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Mar 6, 2023 4/4

Mills has delivered a moving film worth celebrating, one whose idiosyncrasies are nothing short of charming, and whose small story is eclipsed by its considerable heart.

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Feb 15, 2023 3.5/4

In any other movie, the key character of Arthur, a soulful Jack Russell terrier, would draw all the attention away from the two-legged protagonists, but the performances by the three leads are so superb that everyone is able to share in the glory.

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Jason Adams My New Plaid Pants Jul 2, 2021

Lovely. Graceful. Finely tuned into those characters, warts and all

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Richard Crouse Richard Crouse Jan 31, 2021 4/5

Topping off the tender tale is the cutest on-screen dog since Benji who provides unique insight into Oliver's emotional maturation.

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Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com Sep 2, 2020 4.0/4.0

At the very least, an Independent Spirit Award nomination should be assured here as Plummer embodies soulfulness and celebration and remarkable humanity all at once.

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Felicia Feaster Charleston City Paper Jan 17, 2020

Beginners manages to charm despite a tendency toward art-house cuddliness.

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Amie Simon Three Imaginary Girls Mar 6, 2019

The result is a ton of laughter, tears, a surprising out-of-character performance by Goran Visnjic as Plummer's boyfriend, and an adorable canine with more personality than most people.

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Kelly Jane Torrance Washington Examiner Jan 8, 2019 4/5

McGregor and Laurent are outstanding.

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Deborah Ross The Spectator Aug 31, 2018

It's OK, I suppose, and quite sweet. But I couldn't love it for proper, probably because its characters are always more interested in themselves than we are in them, plus it's just too self-consciously tricksy.

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Steve Erickson Nashville Scene Aug 29, 2018

Beginners wants to say something profound about the difficulties of committing to love, but Hal and Oliver are the only characters who come across as full-fledged people.

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Joseph Walsh CineVue Aug 29, 2018 4/5

Moving and intelligent, with a truly great cast.

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Yasmin Shehab Cairo360 Jan 30, 2018 4.5/5

Every part of the film fits together perfectly, be it the acting, characters, story, direction; they're all perfect.

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Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online Sep 8, 2017 A

... at its core, Beginners is about finding happiness, even at the end.

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Eleanor Ringel Cater Saporta Report (Atlanta) Aug 25, 2017

Plummer will take your breath away. As a man who learns it's never to late to fall in love (or lust), he may have wrapped up a best supporting Oscar.

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Martin Tsai Critic's Notebook Oct 7, 2015

"Beginners" ultimately becomes so deeply resonant that you should pack some Kleenexes just in case.

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Sean Burns The Improper Bostonian May 12, 2015

Mills needs to look up from the lint that's collected in his navel.

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Amy Taubin Film Comment Magazine Jul 12, 2013

Mike Mills treats love and loss with a disarming tenderness and a refusal of sentimentality that make Beginners, his second feature, something of an anomaly among male identity flicks. What a finely wrought, wryly funny, transcendently sad movie this is.

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Will Leitch Deadspin Jun 22, 2013 B

It understands death better than it understands life; it understands memories more than it understands what to learn from them.

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Amy Curtis We Got This Covered Jun 2, 2013 6/10

Beginners, beyond its pervasive atmosphere of melancholy and loss, suffers from a little self-indulgence. It's your typical indie drama.

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