Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips |
3 |
...every beat of the picture has the ring of pushy inauthenticity, and despite all the outre eccentricities, a plodding lack of uniqueness. |
E!
Caroline Kepnes |
4 |
These characters would be more at home in an episode of My Name Is Earl, but you know what? They're not interesting enough to contend with Earl, who is actually, gasp, conflicted and thoughtful. |
filmcritic.com
Chris Barsanti |
5 |
...too often a shallow exercise in retro camp. |
New York Post
Lou Lumenick |
7 |
...a compulsively watchable movie best enjoyed by forgetting that it's supposedly based on actual events in the life of novelist Augusten Burroughs. |
TV Guide
Ken Fox |
6 |
The movie winds up becoming "The Annette Bening Show," and she's quite good... |
Reel
Pam Grady |
5 |
...tedious, mean-spirited... |
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez |
3 |
Punishingly snide and unfunny... |
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers |
6 |
...too much manic energy runs the movie off the rails. |
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum |
5 |
...is like running with a spatula, or maybe some weird toast tongs. The experience is unusual -- zany, even -- but not nearly as dangerous or exhilarating as one would hope from the recklessness the title implies. |
New York Times
A. O. Scott |
5 |
...a showcase of high-quality acting (especially from Annette Bening) without much in the way of dramatic coherence or emotional power. |
Los Angeles Times
Carina Chocano |
4 |
...feels histrionic, mannered and just tiresome after a while. |
People
Leah Rozen |
6 |
...never as affecting as it might be... |
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor |
3 |
...a dogged trek... |
Village Voice
Rob Nelson |
8 |
...enjoyably overwrought... |
Onion AV Club
Tasha Robinson |
8 |
In other hands, all this might be sordid and dreadful; in Murphy's hands, however, it seems comic, with an almost fairy-tale brightness and an outlandish "this can't be happening" mindset that mirrors Burroughs' consternation. |
Maxim
Pete Hammond |
6 |
...this indulgently quirky story is an acquired taste, but one that lets a first-rate cast rip. |
Premiere
Glenn Kenny |
4 |
...the results of the filmmakers' labors will inevitably prove most entertaining and emotionally resonant for those who, like Burroughs, don't see much point in forming a worldview that extends far beyond the end of one's nose. |
This movie is available on DVD/Video