76
Metascore
25 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 89Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleAn abundance of feeling plays across the faces of his two leads; Cartlidge and Steadman bring to light every flicker of awkwardness, indecision, anger, regret, joy, admiration, and affection felt by Hannah and Annie.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumIt isn't easy to get close to these two women. But the effort yields a rewarding take on the resiliency and therapeutic importance of friendship.
- 80EmpireEmpireAs is the norm with the best of Leigh, Career Girls is a masterly observation of the foibles of the human condition, rendered with an incisive bite and delivered with boisterous wit.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertWhat is the use of a film like this? It inspires reflection... Mike Leigh's films realize that for most people, most days, life consists of the routine of earning a living, broken by fleeting thoughts of where our efforts will someday take us--financially, romantically, spiritually or even geographically. We never arrive in most of those places, but the mental images are what keep us trying.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliCareer Girls is a wonderful diversion -- expert film making that's all the more effective because it seems so natural and effortless. The movie lacks the grit of Naked and the emotional impact of Secrets and Lies, but, because it effectively transforms two strangers into people worth caring about, Career Girls can be regarded as nothing less than a success.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannA film that, despite its slight intentions, offers several lovely moments.
- 75San Francisco ExaminerWalter AddiegoSan Francisco ExaminerWalter AddiegoLess ambitious than the highly successful "Secrets & Lies," Career Girls has its own modest merits - a real sense of wit, much of it expressed in Hannah's sharp verbal sallies, and a melancholy truth that both women realize.
- 75St. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis Post-DispatchWhile Career Girls has an overall somber tone, it is sparked by Leigh's humor and the actresses' - particularly Hannah's - verbal quickness... While the film may not be very satisfying to viewers, it is intriguing to watch Leigh's work and to see the women's characters develop. [22 Aug. 1997, p.6E]
- 70The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinThere is the sense that Mr. Leigh, whose unusual collaborative method with actors is an essential facet of his writing and direction, is too willing to confuse tics with truth. Indeed, this time the actors' solipsism is more apparent.
- 70VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyMike Leigh has made one of his most modest pictures, although one that offers quite a few laughs and other quirky pleasures.