56
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterThe mesmerizing performance of Fanning as the gifted and troubled young Phoebe sparks the picture.
- 75The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThere's too much "problem, solution" to Phoebe, although the movie's anxieties are believable enough to earns the moments of uplift. The film may be too concerned with being a crowd-pleaser, but it least it makes the crowd suffer a little along the way.
- 75Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerSeattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerThere's an unconvincing warm, fuzzy happy ending, in which recognition is treated as cure and understanding heals all. But, until then, Phoebe in Wonderland is an involving and empathetic drama of mothers and daughters.
- 70Film ThreatFilm ThreatDirector Daniel Barnz produces an enjoyable film that reminds us that imagination is a precious commodity which adults need to nurture by allowing kids to jump.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceWriter-director Daniel Barnz's film is profoundly stirring, if also occasionally maddening.
- 63Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrPhoebe in Wonderland gradually loses its grip on tone and believability, climaxing with a show-must-go-on moment that's just plain silly. Thankfully, Barnz knows exactly where to end his film: on the face of a girl, and an actress, at the crossroads.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanAs the school drama teacher who tries to unlock ''the real,'' Patricia Clarkson makes high theatrical solemnity funny.
- 40VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibPartly produced by Lifetime, the pic attempts to elevate the disease-of-the-week movie into a moral dialectic between conformity and imagination.
- 40Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanThink of Phoebe in Wonderland as "A Beautiful Mind," only for kids. And with Elle Fanning, Dakota's little sister, in the Russell Crowe role of the gifted outsider, tormented by demons within.
- 40New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSo much of this irritating film from first-time writer-director Daniel Barnz feels like a writing exercise it's amazing Elle Fanning, in the title role, comes off as well as she does.