THE COUNTRY GIRL, director Mike Nichols’ revival of the Clifford Odets play with Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher, opened April 27. Here are excerpts from critics’ reviews:

“"The Country Girl," which opened last night, is a lackluster revival of a 1950 drama…Freeman is a talented actor but isn't fully convincing in this role. He captures Frank's insecurity, but his slack diction undermines his credibility as a once-great star hiding vast reserves of "power and majesty. As his beleaguered spouse, Mc-Dormand looks tired, that's for sure. But her performance is flat and lacks spontaneity. She and Freeman have little chemistry, so it's hard to buy them as a couple who have endured so much, including their child's death. The surprising and rock-solid turn comes from Gallagher, who brings enthusiasm and energy to his scenes, ingredients the show sorely needs. “
- Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News

“What keeps you vaguely but uncomfortably on tenterhooks is wondering whether three of the finest actors around can make you care, for a single second, about any of these questions before the play ends. Sorry to jump to the last page, folks, but the answer is no…Passion — and I don’t mean just a mechanically raised voice or fist — never makes an appearance here. It’s a law of theatrical physics that electricity is generated onstage only when a connection is made: between actors and audience, yes, but first of all among the actors themselves. And for whatever reason, everyone in “The Country Girl” seems to be operating on his or her own isolating frequency.”
-Ben Brantley, NY Times

“In the worthwhile revival of Clifford Odets's ``The Country Girl,'' Morgan Freeman is a problem…Elgin is a leading man in the Alfred Lunt and Walter Huston mode, and Morgan isn't that in looks, in accent, in elocution. McDormand, on the other hand, is very fine at both genuine and faked cheerfulness, suppressed scorn and intermittent outbursts of anger or lapses into tears. Best of all are her silent expressions that run the gamut from umbrage to amusement and mostly unvoiced knowing better. Such silences speak louder than words…Mike Nichols has directed with his customary eye for telling detail. Especially arresting is his handling of the between-the-scenes curtain, which in its lateral movement suggests the unfurling of truth.”
- John Simon, Bloomberg

“Although it's a workman-like treatment of the play, it doesn't rise to the inspired level Nichols usually reaches when he's calling the shots. Moreover, two of the central trio aren't doing as much with the pithy Odets speeches as they might…Nichols hits pay dirt with much of the backstage behavior. Gallagher, using no end of gruff yet conciliatory gestures, is charismatic as he conjures a man wedded to his profession who'll use any means he can to achieve his ends…It's with Freeman and McDormand where Nichols runs into trouble. Much of what they're doing is superficially impressive, but lacks the layers needed to rise to a higher level. Freeman gets Frank's playfulness and pleasure at being at work in a piece that could put him on top again, and McDormand nails Georgie's efficiency -- her knowing what's daily required of her to keep a weak husband active and sober. But what Nichols has yet to coax out of either actor is a sense of the profound rift caused by a child's death and by years of living close to the bone. Odets' question at the end of this character-study play is whether Georgie will stay with Frank. As presented here, there's little reason why she shouldn't.”
- David Finkle, TheaterMania.com