20
The tragic Balkan conflict of the 1990s is due for a sweeping, important and engaging cinematic remembrance. Twice Born wants to be that movie — a Bosnian “Doctor Zhivago” — but falls short.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
20
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Whatever thoughtful instincts Mr. Castellitto might possess are undermined by his addiction to cinematic prettiness.
20
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
Dripping with floridly phony dialogue that no actor should be forced to speak, this paternity mystery uses the Bosnian conflict as the manipulative backdrop to a preposterously overwrought and overlong melodrama.
38
Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene
Sergio Castellitto's film quickly turns out to be more interested in reveling in the secrets of its storyline than in its sentiments.
42
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
One hundred minutes of snooze-inducing troubled romance eventually gives way to a strange, interesting backstory. It doesn’t manage to recast the preceding feature’s worth of movie in a different light, but instead makes the viewer wish the film had gotten to the end sooner.
38
About the only reason to stay with this increasingly histrionic film is to satisfy curiosity about exactly how Diego will (as we learn at the outset) die, but long before we learn that Twice Born chokes to death on its own melodrama.
40
Nearly every superficial element of the movie is badly misconceived; it was doomed before the first scene was shot.
75
Chicago Sun-Times by Richard Roeper
Teeming with familiar war-film clichés and at times almost unbearably melodramatic, Twice Born is nevertheless worth the effort, thanks in large part to a magnificent performance from Penelope Cruz and some fine work from the international supporting cast.
40
Village Voice by Zachary Wigon
Sergio Castellitto's Twice Born irresponsibly appropriates the horrific siege of Sarajevo to serve as aesthetic backdrop for a story that exhibits no real interest in the conflict.