54
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Total FilmNeil SmithTotal FilmNeil SmithNods to "Hostel" and "Glengarry Glen Ross" make for a cine-literate affair further buffered by a smart cameo from erstwhile Brat Packer Andrew McCarthy.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaPhiladelphia InquirerSteven ReaDeadpan and a bit dopey, Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best has a shaggy charm, and the chemistry between the tuneful twosome's would-be Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty makes up for the inevitable rock-and-roll road movie cliches.
- 70Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleAlthough the sentiment threatens to flatten out an intriguingly nervy vibe, Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best has plenty of rhythmic charm about its responsibility-challenged strivers.
- 63New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithInitially, this low-budget film writes a lot of checks on the First National Bank of Whimsy, but I was astonished when none of them bounced.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThe comedy is at odds, perhaps even at war, with the gravitational downward pull of bittersweet seriousness, and the sucrose content is pretty high by the end. But it's an entertaining film.
- Inner child? Open road? No, this film is actually about Mr. O'Nan and his wan, scruffy innocence.
- 50Village VoiceNick SchagerVillage VoiceNick SchagerO'Nan and Weston's rapport is engagingly prickly but their "Shins meets Sesame Street" tunes have a tweeness also found in the director's music montages and lens flares. Only in its even-handed treatment of Alex's fundamentalist-Christian brother (Andrew McCarthy) does the film feel like something less than a corny cornucopia of manchildren-grow-up clichés.
- 40EmpireDavid HughesEmpireDavid HughesGood fun, but O'Nan doesn't take this film nearly as far as it could go, leaving the plot and its characters somewhat two-dimensional in their obvious stereotyping.
- 40Time OutTime OutThis is strictly an amateur-hour affair.
- 12Slant MagazineDiego SemereneSlant MagazineDiego SemereneThe film has, at its source, a pool of affectations that so often constitute, or plague, American indie films--and, perhaps, American culture more generally.