57
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreSamuel’s film is an embarassment of acting riches, laugh-out-loud funny when it wants to be and thought-provoking when it dares to be.
- 83ColliderEmma KielyColliderEmma KielyJeymes Samuel is a master of all trades who can craft character-driven arcs with fun action-packed sequences all against a beautiful score. No actor misses a beat and it confirms LaKeith Stanfield remains not just a brilliant actor but a true movie star.
- 75Slant MagazineJustin ClarkSlant MagazineJustin ClarkThe film does keep the smirking undercurrent of the first half present in the more serious second, but, slowly but surely, it starts asking big questions about the nature of God, what measure of divinity lies in us all, and the value of basic humanity and grace in a world where God’s intervention isn’t a given.
- 70SlashfilmWitney SeiboldSlashfilmWitney SeiboldThe Book of Clarence is aspirational, unique, moving, funny, weird, and very shaggy. But it's better to have a picture's cup runneth over than to present us with an empty chalice.
- 67IndieWireJosh Slater-WilliamsIndieWireJosh Slater-WilliamsGiving the final days of Christ a contemporary, allegorical spin, The Book of Clarence is more concerned with entertainment value than delivering a sermon. The results are tonally erratic, but absolutely interesting, at the very least.
- 63Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanWhether it works depends less on piety than on taste. Beneath the giddy subversion, there’s a cheerless solemnity — a splash of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” as it were — that often comes close to curdling the farce.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawStanfield is a performer whom you can’t help warming to, although here, as sometimes in the past, I found myself wanting him to bring something extra in the third act, some new level of energy or anger. But maybe it would be wrong here.
- 60Total FilmNeil SmithTotal FilmNeil SmithStanfield, on double duty as both Clarence and his straitlaced disciple twin Thomas, is a charismatic lead in a cast that boasts more than one enjoyable cameo. Yet you can’t help concluding that Samuel’s laudable ambition to give his mischievous comedy a deeper resonance was too heavy a cross to bear.
- 58The Film StageAlistair RyderThe Film StageAlistair RyderOnce Samuel stops trying to modernize the genre with layers of music-video style and comedic irony, his film becomes surprisingly effective––it just takes a little while to get there.
- 50The Associated PressMark KennedyThe Associated PressMark KennedySamuel never stays with any idea for long and “The Book of Clarence” lacks cohesion, as well as consistency, even if the acting is superb, especially from a soulful Stanfield.