El Nido Vacío (Empty Nest) (2008)

Critic Reviews

• Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

  There is one little problem with the Argentine drama Empty Nest, an all-too-convincing film about a man suffering from a middle-aged malaise: Nothing of interest happens.

• Jason Anderson, Toronto Star

  Burman's fifth feature is too slight and uneven to fully satisfy, even though it does have much of the same wit and insight as Lost Embrace and Family Law, two previous films that earned the director many comparisons to Woody Allen.

• Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

  In the end, it all can't help feeling a little slight, more a pleasant wade into a writer's neurotic playground than a satisfyingly deep dip.

• V.A. Musetto, New York Post

  The script doesn't offer anything especially new, but Burman infuses the film with innovative lensing and capable acting that should draw in viewers.

• Nathan Lee, New York Times

  In Empty Nest, a couple is forced to question their identities and relationships now that parenting is not their most immediate concern.

• Ella Taylor, Village Voice

  Empty Nest comes thickly and pleasurably detailed with the minutiae of domesticity.

• Liz Braun, Jam! Movies

  Empty Nest is light in tone and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, and the humour is generally subtle and grown up.

• Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com

  A leisurely, genial look at a man escaping from his insecurities into a surreal fantasy life, keeping the audience guessing what is real, until he floats into maturity.

• David Noh, Film Journal International

  Tasteful and intelligent to a fault, but critically lacking in truly absorbing excitement.

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  An Argentinian film that offers some fresh twists and slants on the challenges of middle-age.

• David Fear, Time Out New York

  The longer the film's fiftysomething playwright watches his marriage wither, his kids grow up and his teeth rot, the more psychological acuity gives way to the usual obsessing over loss and nubile females.

• Andrew Schenker, Slant Magazine

  This sense of unreality, this feeling of being ill at ease in one's surroundings is communicated via Burman's off-kilter, rhythmic filmmaking.

• Marta Barber, Miami Herald

  Empty Nest doesn't offer anything new in the style Ingmar Bergman made so famous, but the film captures your heart thanks to the fine acting of its two main characters and Burman's deft hand.

• Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve

  A generally absorbing Walter Mitty fantasy, Argentine style.

• Lee Marshall, Screen International

  It's one of those films whose appeal grows post-screening. Fluently shot with frequent but not jerky handheld camera shots and engagingly edited, Empty Nest is discreetly stylish.

• Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total

  Una comedia dramática algo melancólica sobre la crisis de los 50, desde el punto de vista de un hombre cuyos hijos han dejado el hogar. Estupenda labor de Oscar Martínez.

Read all 16 critic reviews