Emerges as something rare, an issue movie that's so honest and keenly observed that it doesn't feel like one. It earns its thesis statement through minute details and a unique grasp of a commonplace problem.
Lord knows how Holofcener got the performance she did out of Goodwin, but the child actor's Annie, rude and unmanageable, is an extraordinarily rich and complicated figure.
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Lovely & Amazing goes to the heart -- and face, and skin -- of a subject that's sure to ring true with women, and may even educate men.
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This trio is like a looser, funnier version of the family of wrecks in Woody Allen's ''Interiors.''
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It is at times serious and at times very funny. But it is always perceptive, and that quality, more than any other, is what makes it worth a recommendation.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
This is a fine, funny, humane film.
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
By turns cheerful, funny and melancholy, and at all times honest, Nicole Holofcener's Lovely and Amazing stands out in the current run of ensemble women's films.
70
TimeRichard Schickel
TimeRichard Schickel
This feels the way a lot of us are living now -- on desperation's dull yet still cutting edge.
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Engaging, intermittently insightful but too glib to wring full value out of its subject matter.
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
There is a certain poignancy to a film that metaphorically examines the stages of a woman's life through each character.