54
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe film, directed by Daniel Sullivan, is brave, I think, to offer us a complicated scenario without an easy moral compass.
- 75Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThis sensitive, sometimes troubling family drama is one of the rare movies dealing with intelligent adults tackling lifelike problems.
- 70The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenThe film, to its credit, never tries to pluck your heartstrings. As it follows the Geldharts around New York, they are figures in a meditative dialogue on human values that reaches no easy conclusions.
- 63The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenConsequently, your reaction to the film will pretty much hinge on your opinion of the play. Ho-hum is my humble verdict.
- 50Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleThe screen version feels like a rewrite made to make the tale more palatable to the "mindless moviegoing masses," which prompts the question: Is the film a truer vision of Baitz's tale of an uncompromising man or a version in which the truer vision was compromised?
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliAside from a powerful performance by Ron Rifkin (reprising his stage role) and a few quietly effective scenes, there's not much reason to subject yourself to a film this off-putting.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannFirst-time film director Sullivan draws good performances from Goldwyn, Hutton and Parker, as well as Debra Monk, Elizabeth Franz and Eric Bogosian in minor roles.
- 50San Francisco ExaminerBarbara ShulgasserSan Francisco ExaminerBarbara ShulgasserIn the case of Jon Robin Baitz's script, adapted from his play, in spite of the fact that he made considerable alterations in the text to open it up to cinematic possibilities, the movie disappoints in much the same way the play did.
- 50Washington PostWashington PostThe whole thing plays like some dreadful masochistic, self-pity fantasy.
- 40Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumBut despite a compelling opening, as a movie it loses focus and purpose as it proceeds.