Legends of the Fall: Critic Reviews

Mr. Pitt's diffident mix of acting and attitude works to such heartthrob perfection it's a shame the film's superficiality gets in his way.

We see ... misery, betrayal, heartbreak, ridiculous plot twists and, after he sustains a stroke, Hopkins apparently doing a composite impression of Popeye and Quasimodo.

As directed by Edward Zwick, the yarn doesn't so much sweep as sprawl across the screen in all its panoramic idiocy.

This is the kind of big, robust Western love story that just begs to be filmed -- which, come to think of it, it has been.

As densely plotted as Legends of the Fall is, it's to the credit of the performers and craftsmen that the film escapes the abyss of melodrama and sentimentality.

The kind of movie that doesn't require much effort to surrender to and enjoy.

Edward Zwick, the director, and Susan Shilliday and Bill Wittliff, the screenwriters, are under the impression that they are bringing forth a tragic epic, not a silly melodrama...

Though the admirable Quinn has the toughest role, Pitt carries the picture. The blue-eyed boy who seemed a bit lost in Interview With the Vampire proves himself a bona fide movie star, stealing every scene he's in.

Tween girls will swoon over this tear-jerker.

[Pitt] casts such a saintly, beatific sheen over the proceedings that he seems to glow from within.

The part is a gift for Brad: he's a cowboy, soldier, adventurer and wanderer; impossibly glamourous and ludicrously far-fetched.

A semi-successful attempt at grand, schmaltzy romantic melodrama, in the manner of 1950s movies like Giant and other works based on literature. Hopkins is hammy as the patriarch but Aidan Quinn and particularly Brad Pitt as his sons at least look right.

The entire film plays like a commercial for Brad Pitt. You can imagine half the audience wondering, 'Where can I get one of those?'

Magnificent melodrama.

Epic frontier soaper rambles on and on.

A rousing, epic miniseries crammed into two hours.

Much too hokey to be enjoyed, even by soap standards.