Third Person

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Third Person

R

Released Jun 20, 2014

2h 16m

Drama

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

25%

Tomatometer

104 Reviews

34%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

An acclaimed novelist (Liam Neeson) struggles to write an analysis of love in one of three stories, each set in a different city, that detail the beginning, middle and end of a relationship.

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Critics Consensus

Third Person finds writer-director Paul Haggis working with a stellar cast and a worthy premise; unfortunately, he fails to fashion a consistently compelling movie out of the intriguing ingredients at his disposal.

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

[A] multi-stranded slice of phoney-baloney, manipulative claptrap.

Nov 16, 2014

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Geoffrey Macnab

Independent (UK)

In its lesser moments, the film seems as banal and manipulative as any afternoon TV soap. Another way of looking at the film is as Haggis's own very idiosyncratic and intimate essay.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 14, 2014

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Wendy Ide

Times (UK)

What is it with Paul Haggis? Has he forgotten how to tell a simple story?

Rated: 1/5

Nov 14, 2014

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...the picture moves far too slowly to wholeheartedly capture the viewer's attention and interest.

Rated: 1.5/4

Feb 25, 2020

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

This mammoth of interrelatedness is uncomfortable, unwieldy, and so insistently labyrinthine that it quite literally chokes the life out of itself.

Rated: 1/5

Aug 30, 2019

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Alexa Dalby

Dog and Wolf

It's a clever idea, and very enjoyable in places, but it doesn't quite come off and after the high emotion and drama the characters have been wrenched through, the resolution feels sadly anti-climactic.

Rated: 3/5

May 31, 2019

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Heather V

The beginning made me consider abandoning this one and I'm glad that I didn't. Early in, I began to suspect that the writer was so bothered by his inability to connect the scattered pieces of his manuscript, that he had gone a little mad. A good deal in, the title began to make sense to me, in that, writing in the third person gave him the freedom to reveal himself safely. SPOILERS FOLLOW: The many situations that his characters acted out would not have been done; they were too cartoonish for the dire circumstances. I stopped trying to convince myself that I was off track and settled down to wait for the surprise clincher moment that would disentangle everything. It did take awhile for me to see that he was living out hs own trials and tribulations through his characters. By now, my forward posture and white knuckles had setteled in. Regarding women, he was struggling with an outrageous love-hate syndrome that had fallen upon him somehow, from somewhere, and I hoped that we viewers wouldn't be left hanging. We weren't. My final ah-ha was his resolution; he had created an unusual way to come to terms with his devastating guilt.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/22/24

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Asa H

An incredibly boring and silly "relationship drama" with a plot that literally does nothing and goes nowhere...Following three different people in their lives, none of which you are tempted to care about. Nothing at all sticks together, is remotely realistic, engaging. Maybe very good for film school students to learn what not to do... I did really like this critics review however: "A pretentious wreck of a movie that severely tests the patience." Also.. Olivia Wilde is probably the most unwatchable actor I have ever seen.. in any generation.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/30/24

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Nooway N

An unengaging rubbish movie that shows how to fail with a brilliant ensemble cast. Could have been so much more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/02/24

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N K

DULL. Olivia Wilde just seems like a crazy, dull person and her acting brings nothing to this. The story overlaps are all disjointed and boring.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/21/23

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John A

I preferred this over the writer/director's claim-to-fame 'Crash' which, like this film, unabashedly wasted an ensemble cast. However the 'Third Person' is so muddled I'm not even sure what has transpired in the 2 hour and 17 minute runtime that really felt like 3 or 4 hours.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/10/23

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Jake C

It really felt like they were trying to make this movie as thought provoking as possible but fell flat on how the writing was together.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/10/23

Full Review

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Paul Haggis

Director

Liam Neeson

Michael

Adrien Brody

Scott

Olivia Wilde

Anna

James Franco

Rick

Moran Atias

Monika

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Synopsis

An acclaimed novelist (Liam Neeson) struggles to write an analysis of love in one of three stories, each set in a different city, that detail the beginning, middle and end of a relationship.

Director: Paul Haggis
Producer: Paul Breuls, Michael Nozik, Paul Haggis
Screenwriter: Paul Haggis
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Corsan, Highway 61
Rating: R (Some Sexuality/Nudity|Language)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 20, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 30, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.0M
Runtime: 2h 16m

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