Above all is Langella, achingly vulnerable under layers of flesh. In one scene, alone, he eats peanut butter intensely, thoughtfully, and nothing he could do as Hamlet would seem deeper or more poetic.
Intelligent, involving and conspicuously adult, Starting Out in the Evening is almost shocking in its distinctiveness, its ability to create high drama from an unlikely source.
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Andrew Wagner has made a lovely comedy of death and rebirth.
What is so remarkable about Mr. Langella is that he seems to hold Leonard’s intellectual cosmos inside him, to make it implicit in the man’s every gesture and pause.
80
VarietyScott Foundas
VarietyScott Foundas
Director Andrew Wagner draws topnotch work from a pro cast in Starting Out in the Evening, a wise, carefully observed chamber drama.
80
Village Voice
Village Voice
This wise, observant, and exquisitely tacit chamber piece complicates every May-December, academic-novel cliché in the book.
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Langella delivers a master class in acting. He's playing Leonard Schiller, an aging author aching from the loss of his wife, a weak heart and literary neglect.
It's a gentle, unhurried drama about how people can connect with each other through conversation, nonverbal gestures, and writing.
63
PremiereGlenn Kenny
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Starting Out never builds to the explosive climax it seems to be heading for, which I suppose is a good thing for its overall integrity, but maybe not so good for its motion-picture value.
63
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Intelligently acted but oddly stagnant adaptation of Brian Morton's acclaimed novel.