Out of the memories of his boyhood in Waxahachie, Tex., during the Great Depression, and within the unlikely tradition of the old-fashioned ''mortgage'' melodrama, Robert Benton has made one of the best films in years about growing up American.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
[Benton's] memories provide the material for a wonderful movie, and he has made it, but unfortunately he hasn't stopped at that. He has gone on to include too much.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
fresh:
Much is unemphatic, but all of it carries the moving weight of conviction. And it ends on a healing grace-note which passeth all understanding.
– Derek Adams,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
fresh:
Places in the Heart is a loving, reflective homage to his hometown by writer-director Robert Benton.