| Critics Reviews |
Average Grade: |
C+ |
|
| Source |
Brief Review |
Grade* |
CNN.com
Paul Clinton |
"...heartbreaking, uplifting, brilliantly acted, and profoundly moving. This is Penn's best work in years." more... |
B+ |
| E! Online |
"...Penn is restrained and top-notch." more... |
B- |
Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt |
"There is much to appreciate...even as you cringe at the movie's sentimental overkill." more... |
B- |
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas |
"...warm, hard-to-resist..." more... |
A- |
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer |
"...about as connected to the real world as Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham..." more... |
C- |
New York Observer
Rex Reed |
"...the acting is so efficient that the film wins you over, whether you like it or not." more... |
B |
New York Post
Lou Lumenick |
"Get out your handkerchiefs." more... |
B |
New York Times
A. O. Scott |
"...its sentimentality is so relentless and its narrative so predictable that the life is very nearly squeezed out of it." more... |
C- |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey |
"...suffocating..." more... |
C- |
Reelviews
James Berardinelli |
"Never trust a serious drama that uses a line from a Dr. Seuss book as its title." more... |
C+ |
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers |
"...notable for the courageous reach of Sean Penn, who gives a bold, heartfelt performance." more... |
B |
Salon.com
Charles Taylor |
"...hideously manipulative..." more... |
F |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker |
"...wallows in melodramatic mush." more... |
C- |
TV Guide
Frank Lovece |
"You might quibble with specifics, but the emotional truth of the whole cannot be denied." more... |
B |
USA Today
Mike Clark |
"Drawn out and dishonest..." more... |
D+ |
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson |
"The bargeloads of thorny reality the movie evades are stupefying..." more... |
F |
In Theaters 
