A film about Malena herself, her travails, the deep-reaching conclusion, would have been much more interesting and original, but Tornatore is mired in cliches.

| Jan 8, 2018

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 22, 2002

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 4, 2001

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 16, 2001

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 16, 2001

Bereft of the more richly textured sentiments of Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 7, 2001

[Tornatore] eludes sentimentality with a romantic vision wide enough to embrace the range of human experience.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 7, 2001

Tornatore has two near-perfect films working within the body of one mediocre one.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 7, 2001

Despite Bellucci's strong presence in a role with little dialogue, the central character never really comes alive in any way interesting enough to give her ordeal much genuine pathos.

| Feb 7, 2001

Its heart is in the right place.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2001

The result is like a bad novel in which the personalities and feelings of the characters are described to us rather than revealed through what they do.

| Feb 2, 2001

[Bellucci] has presence, maybe even talent, but you wish that Malena's inner life had been given as much accent as her outer charms.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 2, 2001

Funny as it is sobering.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 2, 2001

The film lacks a focused, compelling narrative -- perhaps because Tornatore is trying to manufacture a hit by juggling story elements more forced and manipulative than felt.

| Feb 2, 2001

Like Malena herself, the movie ends up nothing more than a great-looking mess.

| Feb 2, 2001

Renato does not intervene to correct the false impressions of the townspeople, nor does he courageously stand for Malna ... What happens instead is far more compelling, but no less merciful and moving.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2001

Any moral lesson the film pretends to hold is as muddled as it is misguided.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2001

A well-crafted, provocative film by one of Italy's consummate screen artists.

Full Review | Feb 1, 2001

Makes something wistful, enduring and even optimistic out of humanity's basest instincts.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Feb 1, 2001

Not for decades has Italian film offered a presence so sexy and mythic as Bellucci.

Full Review | Dec 26, 2000