Oh Lucy!: reviews

What the critics say average 6.6 from 7 outlets

• 8.0 New York TimesManhola Dargis She?s deep in a story about identity, self-annihilation and stubborn existence. These come into play in a contrived, borderline cutesy setup that ? once the parts have been snapped into place ? relaxes into a pleasurable, meandering portrait of someone getting another shot, maybe the last one, at happiness. Read
• 7.0 VarietyAndrew Barker Most of 'Oh Lucy!' passes by breezily, and in different hands this could easily be a crowdpleasing comedy ? Minami is hilarious throughout, and the film contains the strangest use of Vanessa Carlton?s 'A Thousand Miles' since 'White Chicks' ? but when Hirayanagi opts to plunge deeper, you realize the darkness has been there waiting all along. Read
• 7.0 The WrapInkoo Kang Slight but tremendously thoughtful, 'Oh Lucy!' is a character study of a lonesome office worker contending with the pressures of being a single older woman, especially in a country where isolation and suicide are normalized. Read
• 6.3 Roger EbertGlenn Kenny 'Oh, Lucy!' has moments funny, tender, and disturbing, to be sure, but the treatment of its central character veers so wildly between the sympathetic and just plain pathetic that there?s a blur where the movie?s heart ought to be. Read
• 6.0 The GuardianXan Brooks No doubt it?s fitting that a film about transformation and reinvention should be so prone to that too. 'Oh Lucy!''s plot feels overthought. The tone see-saws wildly. What prevents it collapsing are the warm, heartfelt performances, together with Hirayanagi?s obvious affection for her chief protagonist. Read
• 6.0 The Hollywood ReporterDavid Rooney Visually, the movie lacks style, and the music choices are at times perplexing. But for all its tonal uncertainties, the return to Tokyo puts the story back on track toward a satisfying ending with a pleasingly restrained note of sentimentality. Read
• 6.0 Caimán Cuadernos de CineJaime Pena The making is that of an indie production that knows how to measure the times perfectly, those of comicalness and those of drama. One of those movies that will probably make sure the career of its director is as successful as impersonal. Read