It's appropriate that the director calls this the final chapter in a trilogy about struggling with one's identity -- he shows none of his own while mishandling someone else's.
– David Blaylock,
Village Voice,
3 Mar 2005
rotten:
Sir Ian McKellen is at his tweediest and most persnickety as the title character in Emile, the portrait of an eminent scientist who returns from England to his homeland, Canada, to receive an honorary degree from the University of Victoria.
– Stephen Holden,
New York Times,
3 Mar 2005
rotten:
Tenderly touches our emotions.
– V.A. Musetto,
New York Post,
4 Mar 2005
rotten:
Confusing the profound with the pretentious, director Bessai packs the story with elliptical, ominous flashbacks that undercut all the advances he makes with the contemporary tale.
– Elizabeth Weitzman,
New York Daily News,
4 Mar 2005
rotten:
A routine memory piece about long-buried family secrets that bubble back to the surface to wreak havoc.