--- title: "Love Story: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/love-story/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/love-story" critics_score: 54 critics_reviews: 8 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." --- # Love Story (1970): what the critics said Critics' score 54 from 8 reviews: 3 positive, 2 mixed, 3 negative. The reviews divide almost evenly, and the split runs along the calendar: critics writing in 1970 mostly like it, and critics writing since mostly do not. Where there is praise, it clusters on Arthur Hiller’s direction, which several reviews credit with giving Erich Segal’s thin story colour, detail and a sense of place. Ryan O’Neal draws the warmest notices among the cast, with John Marley and Ray Milland noted in support; Ali MacGraw is admired by some and doubted by others. The reservations are about the material rather than the making. The later reviews call the characters flat, the tragedy contrived and the values regressive, and Empire wonders what anyone who knows the ending is meant to get from it beyond a cry. The spread could hardly be wider. Slant finds it close to unwatchable, singling out the over-lit faces and the wedding scene; Variety, at the other end, thinks it succeeds on every level. ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1969. Love Story is an excellent film that succeeds on all artistic levels, propelled by strong performances especially from Ryan O'Neal and solid support from John Marley and Ray Milland. Hiller's direction and the story of young love tested by terminal illness make it generally successful. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1969/film/reviews/love-story-3-1200422177/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1970. The film is infinitely better than the book thanks to Arthur Hiller's direction, which adds color, character, personality, detail and background. Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal bring the leads to life and make viewers care about the tragic story. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/love-story-1970) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 24 December 1970. The movie is a beautiful, romantic fantasy about perfect young love that ends in death, executed with seeming simplicity by Hiller and anchored by lovely performances from MacGraw and O'Neal. It is a sophisticated commercial entertainment that will likely spawn many inferior imitations. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/24/archives/screen-perfection-and-a-love-story-erich-segals-romantic-tale.html) ## The AV Club — Tom Breihan Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 6 September 2019. The piece presents Love Story as a conventional, old-fashioned romance that succeeded by offering boomers a reassuring myth of their own, praising its clean naturalistic filmmaking, locations, and music while criticizing the flat characters, regressive values, and contrived tragedy. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/boomers-got-a-sappy-square-old-fashioned-romance-of-t-1837672379) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 26 December 1970. The film is a calculated tearjerker pushed as clean and wholesome entertainment, succeeding in conveying emotional commitment within a contemporary setting through Hiller's sensitive and restrained direction. It is contrasted with the even more promoted and successful novelization. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1970/12/26/the-current-cinema-22) ## Empire — William Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. Erich Segal's bestseller is very much of its time and gave the world the line 'Love means never having to say you're sorry'. Ali MacGraw cannot act but dies prettily amid violins while the known ending makes the point of watching unclear unless one likes crying. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/love-story-review/) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 29 February 2012. The critic dismisses the film as a bland and clichéd tale of love and illness that feels dated even at the time of release, leading viewers through a turgid story of Harvard students whose romance ends in separation. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/love-story) ## Slant Magazine — Jaime N. Christley Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 8 February 2012. The critic deems the film one of the most unendurable classics, with atrocious direction, performances, and script that make viewing a form of self-harm. He singles out the visual style, over-lit faces, and the DIY wedding scene for particular scorn while noting the Blu-ray transfer preserves the original's flaws. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/love-story/) --- © 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/love-story.md