57
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyPhiladelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyBills itself as a comedy but unfolds as the drollest of dramas, an extended-family album for the age of abortion, adoption and donor sperm. It's a cheeky story about turning the other cheek.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttA real audience pleaser, so long as that audience is mentally agile and adult, for it comes at you from odd angles and features three distinct story lines and 10 main characters.
- 70L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorWhen all is said and done, Roos treats his characters and his audience to an unblushingly sentimental, conciliatory ending of the kind that ordinarily makes me feel as though I'm being played for a sucker. I wept on demand and went home happy.
- 63Chicago TribuneAllison BenediktChicago TribuneAllison BenediktRoos does an admirable job balancing the tragedy and comedy, but he bogs down every character with so much baggage that it's impossible to render them honestly without the captions.
- 60Film ThreatFilm ThreatRoos creates a slate of interesting characters who find themselves in unexpected situations that lead to realistic--and in their own way, happy--endings.
- 50VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyA protracted parade of woefully familiar motifs from the Amerindie playbook, Happy Endings comes off like an undernourished Paul Thomas Anderson wannabe.
- 50The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThere aren't a lot of laughs in Happy Endings, and those that sneak in are pretty wry. There's no comedic snap either, and while that seems not to be the point, humor might have helped with the film's often-sluggish pacing.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThere are pleasing outcomes for almost everyone in Happy Endings, and that's not good news.
- 50Dallas ObserverRobert WilonskyDallas ObserverRobert WilonskyAs Frank, a widower who falls for his son's conniving would-be girlfriend (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Arnold is a revelation.
- 30Village VoiceBen KenigsbergVillage VoiceBen KenigsbergRoos forecasts and explains every development with a title card, a device not unlike having someone yammering in your ear throughout the entire feature run time. In a more self-effacing director's commentary, he might have asked us, at least, to forgive the pun.