In the midst of rehearsals for a new play, amateur dramatics proponents Colin and Kathryn receive the shattering news that their friend George is fatally ill and only has a few months to live.
Most of the film's pleasures will be reserved for Resnais die-hards ...
– David Ehrlich,
Time Out New York,
21 Oct 2014
fresh:
If this isn't a grand finale (2012's "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" felt that way), it's still an affectionate coda for a master.
– Farran Smith Nehme,
New York Post,
22 Oct 2014
rotten:
"Life of Riley" is neither especially profound nor riotously funny.
– Stephen Holden,
New York Times,
23 Oct 2014
fresh:
Where the director's early work was haunted by the Holocaust, the atomic bomb and the Algerian war, Life of Riley blithely celebrates love, possibility and absurdist surprises.
– Mark Jenkins,
NPR,
24 Oct 2014
fresh:
So frothy and chiffonesque it threatens to burst its own cheeks.