64
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertSentimental without being corny, a tearjerker with dignity. The Great Santini is a movie to seek out and to treasure.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThough its emotions are big, the performances are so nicely nuanced that sentiment never overwhelms the story's emotional realism.
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyMr. Duvall, Miss Danner and Mr. O'Keefe are the main reasons you should see The Great Santini. They play together with the kind of ease and self-assurance that, in a movie, is as exhilarating as it is rare.
- 70Washington PostWashington PostDespite the artificial ending, The Great Santini is a powerfully written and acted movie. [03 Oct 1980, p.22]
- 67Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThe Great Santini deserves praise for its willingness to look long, hard, and seriously at a realistic family situation -- a willingness too rarely found at a time when most films are obsessed with futile fantasies. [07 Aug 1980, p.19]
- 63Washington PostGary ArnoldWashington PostGary ArnoldFor all its awkwardness and mawkishness, Santini deserves the shot. It has an authentic core of family drama and humor that could stir a large public. [03 Oct 1980, p.C1]
- 50Time OutTime OutCarlino's direction doesn't help: he was responsible for the atrocious Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, and The Great Santini suffers from the same triteness, with its Deep South setting and a 'progressive' racial subplot that plunges deep into tear-jerk territory. See it for the acting; wallow in the sentiment.
- 50The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelIt takes place in the TV land of predictability -- that plain of dowdy realism where a boy finds his manhood by developing the courage to stick to his principles and stand up to his father.
- 37Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrOvercalculated, thoroughly false humanist mush—one of those “real movies about real people” without a single authentic moment.