71
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- One Lucky Elephant would make an affecting pairing with James Marsh's upcoming "Project Nim," another film about an animal treated like a human until its essential wildness made that impossible.
- 83IndieWireEric KohnIndieWireEric KohnUnlike recent activist documentaries about animal cruelty like "The Cove," Leeman's narrative doesn't feature any real villains. Balding's bond with Flora leaves him in a perpetual state of uncertainty about which possible new home for his elephant would provide the safest habitat.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe film is an impressive and affecting entry in the growing body of work addressing the effects of keeping wild animals in captivity.
- 75Slant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierSlant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierA uniquely passive reminder of the dangers of showering exotic creatures with anthropomorphic affection.
- 75MovielineStephanie ZacharekMovielineStephanie ZacharekHow much human love is too much for an elephant? That's the question Lisa Leeman's One Lucky Elephant attempts to answer, without sentimentality but with the right amount of compassion.
- 70Village VoiceMelissa AndersonVillage VoiceMelissa AndersonAdmirably, and gently, raises questions about the folly and hubris of a relationship that may only ever be one-sided.
- 70NPRMark JenkinsNPRMark JenkinsSucceeds as a character study, while gently raising questions about human use and misuse of animals.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichThat One Lucky Elephant ultimately comes down on the side of anthropomorphizing Flora and her kind is extremely disappointing - a little clear-eyed ambivalence would have helped the film feel more focused and less like patchwork.
- 60The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisAnimal people sometimes say the wackiest things, but here, alas, they never satisfyingly address the ethical questions of what it means to capture and keep wild animals. Happily, while this movie's head may not always be in the right place, its heart is.