34
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- An ending that suggests reconciliation and forgiveness isn't just unearned, it's bewildering, given the wretched behavior we've seen; it implies that the entire story was filtered through some unidentified unreliable narrator who wanted to take the higher ground while still harboring a serious grudge.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe screenplay shows signs of being inspired by personal memories that still hurt and are still piling up in Michael's mind. Fair enough, but the film doesn't sort this out clearly, and we experience vignettes in search of a story arc.
- 40Boxoffice MagazineRichard MoweBoxoffice MagazineRichard MoweAs tales of troubled families go, it may have aspirations to be like "Ordinary People," but it falls way short.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttDennis Lee comes up empty. Kids, parents, siblings, an aunt and an estranged wife all bicker and yell, but the noise cancels itself out. The movie is one long argument, tiresome and repetitive, that produces more heat than light.
- 40Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyLos Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyThere's a strange sort of diffidence that seems to inhabit Dafoe and Roberts' performances, and the disconnect between the two Janes is simply insurmountable.
- 25Slant MagazineDiego SemereneSlant MagazineDiego SemereneThe actors are left to go through the motions of a sterile script that director Dennis Lee tries to bring to life not through, for example, Watson's brilliant capacity for facial nuance, but through canned artifice.
- 20Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearA completely incoherent mess.
- 20Village VoiceNick SchagerVillage VoiceNick SchagerDespite an A-list roster, the performances are universally one-note, a fact largely attributable to a script overflowing with blunt dialogue and heavy-handed symbolism.
- 20Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovThere are some moments of blessed levity to the otherwise mordant melodramatics...That's not enough to sustain interest in the Taylors and their toxic emotional foibles, however.