59
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe pic may have an unlikely story (in real-world love affairs, this kind of second chance rarely ends happily), but benefits from unusually authentic performances.
- 80Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenLos Angeles TimesSheri LindenAs the film moves elegantly between past and present, Brooks proves a keen observer of behavior and the pitfalls of overthinking. Finding complex beauty in what would be merely obvious in a lesser work, her delightful feature taps into a rarely broached, generally female coming-of-age dilemma: the fear of losing yourself before you know who you are.
- 75The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe Boy Downstairs straddles a patchy line between comedy and drama with mixed results, but when all is said and done, the auspicious film acts like a mature consideration of the scariness of vulnerability and laying your heart on the line.
- 75RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaRogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaAny movie that can bring to mind a Joni Mitchell song as the credits roll — “Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone” — has earned its keep.
- 70VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanMamet has a quick, spry reaction time and a gently forlorn focus that holds the screen, and she holds this movie together.
- 60Village VoiceSerena DonadoniVillage VoiceSerena DonadoniThe writer-director’s first feature is warmly affectionate and maddeningly vague, with half-formed characters, limp plotting, and performances of captivating delicacy, especially from Zosia Mamet as a novelist guided by uncertainty.
- 50New York PostSara StewartNew York PostSara StewartMore frustratingly, Brooks jumps back and forth in time between the couple’s past relationship and the current day, with nary a physical or emotive change evident in either party. It becomes a task just to figure out which timeline you’re in, and then convince yourself why you should care.
- 38Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThere’s not much to say about the enervated romance The Boy Downstairs, except that literally every character and actor playing that character is more interesting than the leads.
- 38Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonEndeavoring to give us a post-mumblecore spin on Annie Hall, writer-director Sophie Brooks seemingly fails to understand what made Woody Allen's film so appealing: its rich, multi-faceted characterizations.
- 30The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergHow, and in whose apartment, Diana and Ben will confess their emotions is the subject of Ms. Brooks’s pallid dramedy, which leaves its actors looking somewhat stranded, as if waiting for Neil Simon zingers that were never written.