--- title: "Gloria: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/gloria-1980/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/gloria-1980" critics_score: 71 critics_reviews: 7 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." --- # Gloria (1980): what the critics said Critics' score 71 from 7 reviews: 6 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Gloria, with praise centred on Gena Rowlands as the tough former mob associate protecting a boy from the Mafia. The reviews repeatedly single out her force, physical assurance and emotional range, finding that she gives the chase story much of its character. Several also admire Cassavetes’ handling of New York’s atmosphere and the unlikely central pairing, while the opening montage and Bill Conti’s score attract praise. The reservations concern how well the gangster plot accommodates Cassavetes’ interest in unruly emotions, with a fairly wide spread of enthusiasm despite the predominantly positive response. Slant Magazine finds the supporting performances and tonal mixture weaker than Rowlands, while The New York Times offers the clearest dissent, finding the film charming but lumpy and unconvincing. Collider is the most enthusiastic, celebrating Rowlands as an action heroine and Cassavetes’ feel for the city’s chaos. ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2013. The critic outlines the paranoid plot of Gloria and the kid on the lam from the Mafia, matching Cassavetes' hard-nosed metaphysics with the intimate ferocity of the odd couple. It highlights Cassavetes filming Rowlands with self-deprecating adoration as the gloriously burdened woman who would kill for them. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/gloria) ## Sight and Sound — Richard Combs Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 3 July 2024. The critic examines Cassavetes’ Gloria as a gangster film that blends genre chase elements with the director’s signature focus on raw character emotions and performance, contrasting it with Scorsese’s Raging Bull. It highlights the energetic, atmospheric opening and Gena Rowlands’ central role while noting the film’s playful, self-aware take on genre conventions. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/hell-bronx-richard-combs-reviews-gloria-raging-bull) ## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 14 March 2003. The critic highlights Gena Rowlands' extraordinarily well-rounded and brash performance as the ex-mob dame Gloria as the film's standout element in this PG-rated mob melodrama with a child in tow. Supporting performances and the overall tonal mixture are found wanting by comparison. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/gloria/) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 16 January 2012. The review praises Cassavetes as a master despite his own dismissal of the film as a commercial chore, noting the graceful opening montage, Bill Conti’s score, and Gena Rowlands’ superb turn as the tough New York moll. It commends how the leads and director avoid maudlin sentimentality in the story of the unlikely pair on the run. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/gloria) ## Variety — Variety Staff Rating **. 31 December 1979. The review calls Gloria a glorious broad and notes Cassavetes eases up on his probing style to churn out a chase film pitting her and the kid against the Mafia. It praises Gena Rowlands as excellent and the kid as a right blend of understanding and tantrums. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1979/film/reviews/gloria-2-1200424744/) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 1 October 1980. The critic describes the film as a peculiar, lumpy mixture of Hollywood-style hokum and Cassavetes' bravura manner, charming but not believable or moving in a schmaltzy way. It praises Gena Rowlands' talented, gusto-filled performance as the tough moll. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1980/10/01/arts/cassavetess-gloria-moll-and-a-boy.html) ## Collider — Rebecca Schriesheim Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 July 2024. The critic praises Gena Rowlands as a groundbreaking tough, gun-wielding action hero protecting a boy from the mob in gritty 1980 New York City. Cassavetes is singled out for stylishly capturing the city's chaotic atmosphere and highlighting Rowlands' physicality and elegance. [Read the review](https://collider.com/gloria-1980-movie/) --- © 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/gloria-1980.md