57
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsThe stories are eye-opening and heartwarming at the same time, but you'll be moved less by empathy for the characters than by the summoning of your own emotional memories. This movie is personal.
- 88Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrA quieter, less melodramatic piece of work than last year's "Crash," and arguably a better one.
- 70L.A. WeeklyF. X. FeeneyL.A. WeeklyF. X. FeeneyWriter Sam Catlin and director Danny Leiner have fashioned an alert, shrewdly observed portrait of a moment in time.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumWorking from a stagy script by Sam Catlin, director Danny Leiner uses a dainty palette of tristesse (untouched when he made Dude, Where's My Car?) to suggest that the shadow of 9/11 makes every discontent more pathetic.
- 63TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxThe result is a mixed bag of lozenges, some sweet, some tart and others that just melt away into nothing.
- The new 9/11 movies aim to rekindle feelings that most of us have, by necessity, moved beyond. But there’s more than one way to move beyond, as suggested by the spottily affecting ensemble psycho-comedy The Great New Wonderful.
- 50The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensIt is hard to feel much warmth toward people whose most salient feature is their disconnection from reality.
- 50Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonUnfortunately, screenwriter Sam Catlin and director Danny Leiner make the unexpected mistake of being too subtle.
- 25New York PostNew York PostIn the future, more and more filmmakers will do exactly what The Great New Wonderful has done: conceal their lack of ideas by bringing up 9/11.
- 20Village VoiceBen KenigsbergVillage VoiceBen KenigsbergIronically, Leiner's two monuments to pothead delirium seem vastly more coherent than this hazy attempt to mine the zeitgeist, a film every bit as pointed as its nounless title.