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(1 - 45) of 45 OFCS Rating: 51% Rotten Page   1   3/5 "It would take a viewer with the aesthetic skills of an Olympian to overcome the horrendous hurdles placed in entertainment's way by this well-meaning but misguided adaptation of the famed bestseller."   PopMatters   Bill Gibron B+ "Kite Runner remains an effective, deeply felt meditation on forgiveness, and when it stays near the characters, it's some of the best filmmaking Marc Forster has ever accomplished."   OhmyNews.com   Brian Orndorf 3/5 "relies heavily on gimmicky turns in the action leading toward teary crescendos"   Filmcritic.com   Chris Barsanti C "Stories of unethical treatment of its child actors by the filmmakers has tarnished The Kite Runner as a film made of the same brand of hubris that its lead character carries for most of the story."   ColeSmithey.com   Cole Smithey 5/10 "Like the source novel, Marc Forster’s film is frequently contrived and melodramatic."   PopMatters   Cynthia Fuchs 62/100 "Forster's self-important direction submarines a film that begins well, but slips into melodrama and plods towards anti-climax."   Apollo Guide   Dan Jardine 4/4 "...an affecting, downright riveting piece of work."   Reel Film Reviews   David Nusair C "Well-intentioned but hardly convincing depiction of the haunting Afghanistan landscape."   Ozus' World Movie Reviews   Dennis Schwartz "The movie slides downhill after its fine portrayal of childhood bonds and cowardice in Afghanistan twenty-six years in the past."   ReelTalk Movie Reviews   Donald J. Levit 2.5/4 "The decidedly small-scale finished product doesn't quite measure up to the epic scope of its story. Fortunately, the film's heart remains very much intact."   TheMovieBoy.com   Dustin Putman 1/4 "Forster transforms a presumably brutal and nuanced account of class difference and innocence lost into Disney-style kitsch."   Slant Magazine   Ed Gonzalez 3/5 "Es un poco inevitable sentir que la película transcurre casi como un trámite, sin permitirle al espectador una aproximación mucho más sensible a la historia."   Uruguay Total   Enrique Buchichio C+ "It's the kind of film whose major accomplishment is to make you think, 'Wow, the book is probably really good. I should have stayed home and read it.'"   EricDSnider.com   Eric D. Snider 2/4 "Calls into question why Hosseini's novel was such a chart-climber in the first place other than being one of the first published pieces of fiction to use the Taliban as a subplot after 9/11."   eFilmCritic.com   Erik Childress C+ "The screen throws the story's weaknesses into sharper relief than the printed page did, and despite the obvious dedication and craftsmanship, the film finishes as a near-miss."   One Guy's Opinion   Frank Swietek 5/5 "A memorable and moving drama about the pain of lost friendship, the yearning for forgiveness, and the freedom that comes from making amends."   Spirituality and Practice   Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat 2/4 "It's a brutal second act, really."   Film and Felt   Gabe Leibowitz C "Fights a losing battle to reconcile authenticity with performances that vary widely in quality."   Modern Fabulousity   Gabriel Shanks 3.5/4 "At times brutal, at times touching, the movie stands out as one of the better 'prestige' productions offered for cinematic consumption during the waning weeks of 2007."   ReelViews   James Berardinelli "The Kite Runner doesn't just make us watch the battling kites in the skies over Kabul; it makes us truly see the people below, in many ways for the first time; that's the film's greatest achievement, and ultimately the best reason to see it."   Cinematical   James Rocchi 3/4 "Genuine if not exactly inspiring."   Palo Alto Weekly   Jeanne Aufmuth 4/10 "The movie's robotic execution doesn't match its ambition to tell an adult story for an adult audience."   Window to the Movies   Jeffrey Chen 3/4 "Gently moving adaptation by Marc Forster takes off but never quite soars."   Big Picture Big Sound   Joe Lozito C+ "... fails to rise above a Dickens-like tale of betrayal and redemption"   Old School Reviews   John A. Nesbit 6/10 "For a melodrama, it ain't bad."   DVDTown.com   John J. Puccio 5/10 "Tepid at best."   Planet Sick-Boy   Jon Popick "The Kite Runner is dramatically and visually sumptuous"   Film.com   Jonathan F. Richards 2/4 "The film has its moments of purity and at times they are exquisite (they almost seem accidental in their innocence), but it is the story and its ultimate disingenuousness that overturns the cart."   Bangitout.com   Jordan Hiller 1.5/5 "Forster na synehizei na psahnei ti Hora toy Pote stin paramythenia Kampoyl toy protoy meroys, prin perasei sto deytero kommati tis istorias, opoy i prospatheia toy Afganoy metanasti na brei thesi sto Neo Kosmo kai bima na pei tis istories toy, ginetai syn"   Movies for the Masses   Joseph Proimakis C+ "What happened to the Marc Foster who made the compelling indie Everything Put Together?...a bland, Hollywood production that tells the story the novel's author outlined without giving it any but the most obvious themes..."   Reeling Reviews   Laura Clifford 3/4 "Manipulative filmmaking, to be sure, but director Marc Forster manipulates us so well, we overlook the fact in the viewing and forgive it in the memory."   Mark Reviews Movies   Mark Dujsik "How often does a single movie seem to capture the very essence of what it means to be alive and aware and imperfect in so simple a story? This is one of the very best films of 2007..."   Flick Filosopher   MaryAnn Johanson 3.5/4 "A positive and uplifting story about the kind of interpersonal loyalty that not even a terrorist organization can destroy."   Aisle Seat   Mike McGranaghan B+ "An absorbing story in a setting that is both exotic and universal."   Beliefnet   Nell Minow C- "The type of film one would expect from Marc Forster -- banal, trite and apt to ramrod simplistic symbolism down viewers' throats."   Lessons of Darkness   Nick Schager 5/5 "Uma admirável montanha-russa emocional."   Cinema em Cena   Pablo Villaca 4/5 "Adapted for the screen with sensitivity by Benioff and Forster, drawing raw performances from the cast."   Shadows on the Wall   Rich Cline 2/5 "...comes off as the simplistic Oprah-approved gush it always was..."   eFilmCritic.com   Rob Gonsalves D+ "The Kite Runner will no doubt warm the hearts of its intended audience, but its nature is one of dubious flattery."   Projection Booth   Rob Humanick B "A good, sprawling yarn that covers a lot of miles and a lot of years."   Laramie Movie Scope   Robert Roten B- "I wonder what a different director and screenwriter would have done with the source material."   Reeling Reviews   Robin Clifford 8/10 "A sweet and masterful story of survival, transcendence, loyalty and friendship told with striking cinematography. A spiritual piece of work."   Monsters and Critics   Ron Wilkinson 10/10 "Exceptional and enthralling - with its universal themes of honor and redemption"   www.susangranger.com   Susan Granger 4/10 "Everything good about the book has been removed from the film, and everything trite and unconvincing in the book has been left as the core of the drama."   Antagony & Ecstasy   Tim Brayton "Click here to see review"   Wolf Entertainment Guide   William Wolf  (1 - 45) of 45 OFCS Rating: 51% Rotten Page   1