42
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Film ThreatEric CamposFilm ThreatEric CamposA very important film that is as sad as it is uplifting. After viewing it you may just have a whole new appreciation for life.
- 70Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasHas such quiet power that it is actually not depressing, and the cast follows suit with Dukakis, Carver and Posey, rising to the occasion.
- 70SalonStephanie ZacharekSalonStephanie ZacharekWriter-director Thom Fitzgerald -- his previous feature was "The Hanging Garden" -- has managed to make a comedy about assisted suicide that hardly feels black at all.
- 50VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyMiddling drama about euthanasia, worked out through a sprawl of underdeveloped characters.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThe topic is thought-provoking, the flashback-based structure is interesting, and there are surprising twists near the end. But there's also an overdose of sentimentality that badly dilutes the picture's impact.
- 50The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenA dawdling affair that never finds its own rhythm. Early on, it gets lost in its own earnestness and never finds its way back.
- 50New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsOther than the terribly miscast Posey, the cast is solid, with Dukakis wrenching the heart as a mother tested to the max by her son's request. But the movie didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
- 50New York PostMegan LehmannNew York PostMegan LehmannA good edit would have allowed the film's worthy, obviously heartfelt, message to shine.
- 30L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorAs reasoning, this is manipulative -- as filmmaking, it’s dull.
- 20Village VoiceVillage VoiceShot on crummy DV and told via flashbacks, the film largely plays out like a Reagan-era "Citizen Kane." Common sense wrecks even the film's funniest bit, and the director's nausea-inducing camera observes the hysteria in perpetual pan-and-scan.