--- title: "An Unmarried Woman: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/an-unmarried-woman/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/an-unmarried-woman" critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # An Unmarried Woman (1978): what the critics said Critics' score 75 from 9 reviews: 8 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics like this film, and almost all of them for the same two reasons. Jill Clayburgh’s performance draws the warmest words: assured, sensitive, courageous, and in Film Comment’s view one of the great recent screen characters. Mazursky’s direction is credited with a sharp eye for New York detail and for letting his people roam, so that the politics of divorce and independence arrive through behaviour rather than speeches. The reservations are about toughness. Writing on release, The New Yorker finds the film funny and buoyant but virtuous rather than properly critical, with too many liberation themes and some hot air. The New York Times, the one mixed notice, admires the performance and the sharpest scenes but thinks the whole is softer than they promise. The spread is narrow otherwise, and the later reviews are the warmer ones, with Collider in particular defending the open ending as confidence rather than evasion. ## Film Comment — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). The critic calls it Mazursky's best film to date and one of the strongest recent American pictures, praising its precise observation, humor that cuts deep, and emotional release. He singles out Jill Clayburgh's courageous, revelatory performance as creating one of the great recent screen characters. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/an-unmarried-woman-review/) ## Little White Lies — Nicole Davis Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2019. The critic highlights the film's authentic depiction of a woman's multifaceted emotions and recovery process after divorce. Mazursky's fluid direction and camerawork underscore the ongoing, verb-like nature of becoming independent. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/an-unmarried-woman-paul-mazursky-marriage-story) ## Radio Times — Sue Heal Rating 4/5. Jill Clayburgh delivers an assured and sensitive portrayal of a privileged Manhattan woman whose life unravels when her husband leaves. Mazursky shows a sharp eye for New York detail as her character inches toward feminism. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-eb87bg/an-unmarried-woman/) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 25 June 2020. Mazursky’s film is a lovely, poignant character study that dramatizes the rise of divorce and resulting liberation in the 1970s without preaching. The director allows characters to roam freely, finding politics in the wrinkles of human behavior and delivering unusually lived-in characterizations. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review-paul-mazursky-an-unmarried-woman-on-criterion-blu-ray/) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 February 1978. The film makes a sensitive case for a modern woman's need for independence and is funny and buoyant, though it touches too many women's-liberation themes and has some hot air. Mazursky is deft but the picture feels virtuous rather than fully critical. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1978/03/06/1978-03-06-099-tny-cards-000320345) ## Time Out — JS Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The film is very much a product of its New York setting and era, following a suddenly deserted wife who suffers yet moves toward a kind of feminism. The middle-aged characters are absurd yet perfectly believable. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/an-unmarried-woman) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1977. Mazursky's screenplay gives Clayburgh a demanding role as a woman whose husband leaves her, exploring her path through support networks, dating mishaps, therapy, and a new relationship with an artist. The film resolves without easy answers but with strong portents for her happiness. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1977/film/reviews/an-unmarried-woman-1200424305/) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 5 March 1978. Clayburgh gives an extraordinary performance in Mazursky's ambitious comedy about a middle-class wife and mother whose marriage ends abruptly. The film has sharp moments and social observation but is ultimately not as tough or critical as its best scenes suggest. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/05/archives/an-unmarried-woman-film-with-jill-clayburghthe-cast.html) ## Collider — Benjamin Crabtree Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 April 2022. The critic praises Mazursky's handling of the film's ambiguous ending as an expression of self-assured confidence and feminist liberation. They single out the final sequence where the protagonist carries a large painting through New York streets for its thematic consistency and emotional depth. [Read the review](https://collider.com/paul-mazurskys-an-unmarried-woman-ending-why-its-good/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/an-unmarried-woman.md