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Far from Heaven

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When she finds her husband (Dennis Quaid) with another man, a Connecticut housewife (Julianne Moore) finds herself dealing with infidelity and the racial tension that epitomized the late 1950s at the advent of the Civil Rights movement in America. As a coping mechanism to deal with the emotional turmoil, she develops an unlikely friendship with her African-American gardener (Dennis Haysbert), who's full of sage wisdom.
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Netflix Rating: 3.4
Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh 91%: Consensus: An exquisitely designed and performed melodrama, Far From Heaven earns its viewers' tears with sincerity and intelligence.
Fresh: 167 Rotten: 17 Rotten Tomatoes page
Top Rotten Tomatoes Critics: An accomplished marriage of elaborate style and content. full review

David Rooney, Variety

Achieves the same sentimentality as the Sirk films, and in much the same way. full review

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

Though less obviously a tour de force than many flashier recent art films, such as Alexander Sokurov's one-take feature Russian Ark, it's no less impressive as a technical achievement. full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

The film oozes craft. full review

Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

Well worth seeing for its visual approximation of the Douglas Sirk-Ross Hunter 'women's pictures' of the 50's. full review

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Well-written, nicely acted and beautifully shot and scored, the film works on several levels, openly questioning social mores while ensnaring the audience with its emotional pull. full review

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle

Stylish, affectionate and acutely knowing.

Susan Stark, Detroit News

Haynes' greatest accomplishment, beyond his impeccable craftsmanship and his connection with his actors, is in the way he respects the facade while tearing it away. full review

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Sirk would be proud.

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

If it's ultimately a failure -- and I think it is -- it's still worth seeing, because it's the most ambitious and magnificent failure in recent memory. full review

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

It's a film that's loving toward all concerned, even when they cause each other pain. And it is overwhelmingly, refreshingly sincere even while being revisionist. full review

Steven Rosen, Denver Post

What Moore does on-screen here is absolutely beguiling. full review

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

The movie has the sense of being embalmed, or pickled. full review

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

A richly imagined and admirably mature work from a gifted director who definitely has something on his mind.

Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News

A movie that needs hankies.

Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Because the film deliberately lacks irony, it has a genuine dramatic impact; it plays like a powerful 1957 drama we've somehow never seen before. full review

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Hits your heart, tickles your head and gives a little extra bonus to those of us who salivate over cinematography and set design. full review

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News

The deep, dark sadness of Haynes' movie casts a beautiful, powerful spell.

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

This imitation of life comes tantalizingly close to greatness, then settles for being smart without much heart. full review

Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News

Moore is absolutely brilliant in this film. full review

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune