Homer is an orphan who was never adopted, becoming the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch. Dr. Larch imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life outside the orphanage. What will Homer learn about life and love in the cider house? What of the destiny that Dr. Larch has planned for him?
As paternalistic, puffed-up, and dull as a congressional debate about abortion rights.
– Amy Taubin,
Village Voice,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Deliciously satisfying.
– Glenn Lovell,
San Jose Mercury News,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
[It] is a fable that turns into a 1940s New England variation on Charles Dickens. It is also one dickens of an American movie.
– Bob Graham,
San Francisco Chronicle,
18 Jun 2002
fresh:
Mr. Irving remains a disturbingly facile spinner of yarns in which the most sordid facts of life are glossed over into comfortably didactic homilies about the innate goodness of people. Yet, I was somehow moved...
– Andrew Sarris,
New York Observer,
27 Apr 2007
fresh:
Hallstrom's film could have used more dramatic muscle but is nonetheless a touching, old-fashioned charmer that ultimately satisfies.