64
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineNot for everyone, but those who respond to it will find it unforgettable.
- 80Time OutTime OutDennis Potter's remarkably intelligent transatlantic adaptation of his BBC serial turns the pitfalls of 'Hollywoodisation' into profit, now stressing the 'pennies' over the 'heavenly' symbolism by specifically locating Arthur Parker's grubby melodrama in the Chicago of the Depression, and culling his liberating daydreams from not only the era's popular music, but its even more culturally resonant musicals, recreated with both MGM opulence and biting Brechtian wit.
- 75The Associated PressBob ThomasThe Associated PressBob ThomasLiteral-minded moviegoers will find it easy to hate Pennies from Heaven. But those willing to go along with the device will find the film a source of constant surprise and delight. [14 Dec 1981]
- 70Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrThis 1981 film drips with a sense of anger and betrayal that seems wildly out of scale to its cause—the discovery (less than original) that musicals don't reproduce social reality. The point is made endlessly, though it's in the film's favor that it's made with seriousness, consideration, and a certain amount of imagination.
- 70The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinThere's something disconcerting and strained about plastic smiles and speed-fueled peppiness of dancers in old musicals, a forced bonhomie that's borderline creepy. Pennies brilliantly exploits that blatantly artificial pep in queasy, disquieting ways.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertPennies from Heaven is dazzling and disappointing in equal measure. It's a musical with an idea, and ideas usually have been deadly to the musical, that most gloriously heedless of movie genres.
- 50The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyMiss Peters is funny and charming lip-synching Helen Kane's I Want to Be Bad, and Mr. Martin is something of a revelation as a danceman. The movie, though, is not easy to respond to. It's chilly without being provocative in any intellectual way.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThe depression drama is undermined by lumpy directing and by a flat performance from Steve Martin, who never approaches the dramatic eloquence he obviously has in mind. [24 Dec 1981, p.22]
- 40Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleHere, Martin and company turn the proceedings into an unfunny farce, flinging out silly jokes at the rate of an Airplane movie in the desperate hope that something will stick.