Ian Thomas Malone ianthomasmalone.com Aug 11, 2025

While her obvious star power radiates in every scene, Hepburn elicits great sympathy for Jane through the subtle moments of profound sadness, the immutable sting of loneliness still resonating seventy years later.

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Rob Aldam Backseat Mafia Jul 25, 2022

An intelligent and well-acted romantic drama.

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Michael Barrett PopMatters Jul 20, 2022

The tawdry subject became the province of only the classiest actors.

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Jake Cole Slant Magazine Jul 13, 2022

David Lean basks in the splendor of Venice’s tourist hotspots in a manner that, as evinced by Summertime’s rapturous visual splendor, anticipates his subsequent string of massively scaled productions.

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Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies Jul 12, 2022 4/5

Summertime is a game-changing end-of-an-era film for David Lean and also features a superb performance from Katharine Hepburn.

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Algirdas Landsbergis Film Culture Jun 7, 2022

The outcome shows that Lean-the-producer decided to spread another transparent romance against of a panorama of canals. But, thanks to Lean-the-artist, Summertime has a formula plot which occasionally deviates to insights below the surface.

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Jeva Lange The Week Feb 17, 2021

Anchored by Katharine Hepburn giving one of her all-time great performances as a lonely American yearning for a "wonderful, mystical, magical miracle" in Venice, it is a surprisingly perfect celebration of the seasons of love.

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Gavin Lambert Sight & Sound Mar 18, 2020

It offers a rich, sometimes dazzling surface, with its fine Venice locations, but its conception seems tentative.

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Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine Oct 28, 2019

Several minor characters are stock types but both principals are completely plausible and Venice is a knockout.

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MFB Critics Monthly Film Bulletin Mar 4, 2019

The script maintains slightly the tone of an impeccably smooth and glossy novelette, romantic rather than sentimental, but scarcely concerned to explore its situation very deeply.

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Jun 11, 2010 B

It's beautiful to look at, the acting is superb and it has its poignant moments.

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Philip French Observer (UK) Nov 6, 2007

It turned Lean from a subtle, very English director into an international film-maker working in broad strokes.

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Nov 6, 2007 3/5

The dialogue can be stagey and Venice is evoked at a tourist level, but it's beautifully photographed and Hepburn's loneliness and sadness look disquietingly real.

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Variety Staff Variety Nov 6, 2007

The film stacks up as promising entertainment -- with some reservations.

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Steve Crum Dispatch-Tribune Newspapers Dec 23, 2006 5/5

Romantic drama with Hepburn in good form.

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Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Nov 5, 2006 B+

David Lean's restrained direction, Katharine Hepburn's nuanced turn as a spinsterish middle-aged secretary, and above all Venice's alluring sights compensate considerably for a plot that's borderline banal and schmaltzy.

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Ian Nathan Empire Magazine Jul 23, 2004 4/5

Being Lean's favourite of his films this is undoubtedly worthy of attention.

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Jamie Russell BBC.com Jun 22, 2004 4/5

Thanks to Hepburn's performance we can feel how this woman's past romantic disappointments have made a passionate affair seem so simultaneously appealing and frightening.

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Moira Sullivan Not Coming to a Theater Near You Jan 8, 2004 B

Summertime was shot exclusively in Venice. And for those who have been to Venice, the film is a rare treasure;

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Laura Bushell Film4 May 24, 2003 4/5

As a coming-of-age story it remains touching. As a showcase for Katharine Hepburn, it is superb.

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