30
Metascore
7 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 40The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckOnly the writer's most ardent fans — and they are legion, judging by his book sales of over 190 million copies — will find anything of interest here.
- 40The New York TimesDaniel M. GoldThe New York TimesDaniel M. GoldThe title of this biopic, Paulo Coelho’s Best Story, is apt: His own life might well be his greatest work. A pity, then, that the film, directed by Daniel Augusto, doesn’t chronicle his evolution better, leapfrogging among decades instead.
- 40Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenLos Angeles TimesSheri LindenAt the expense of emotional depth, Augusto emphasizes the story's sensory aspects. Sometimes this works, sometimes it's overkill.
- 38Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenDaniel Augusto relies on familiar tropes pertaining to the sexy, rebellious rock-star artist who does things his own way.
- 30Village VoiceSimon AbramsVillage VoiceSimon AbramsCoelho's writing may be "more [widely] translated than [Shakespeare's]," as the coda claims, but Paulo Coelho's Best Story never successfully pins down its subject's genius.
- 30VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonA dramatically flat and tediously disjointed drama that comes across as a standard-issue, cliche-littered, struggling-writer-finds-fulfillment biopic that has been cut-and-pasted into borderline incoherence.
- 25RogerEbert.comRogerEbert.comThe Paulo Coelho portrayed here is a selfish, reckless, immature, spoiled and deeply boring person.