65
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumUnder the thoughtful direction of Guy Ferland - what emerges is solid and affecting.
- 80NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenWhile the elements in this coming-of-age saga may seem familiar, Eszterhas brings a fresh, immigrant's-eye perspective to his tale.
- 75Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrIt's a surprisingly sweet underdog immigrant coming-of-age story set in 1961. [24 Oct 1997]
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertI liked this movie a lot - not just for Bacon and Renfro, but also for the work of the wonderfully-named Calista Flockhart, as the girl who dates Karchy.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonDirector Guy Ferland, who has made one previous feature, handles this material smoothly and well, aided by the juke-box bright colors caught by cinematographer Reynaldo Villalobos. And Eszterhas, who has never shown much flair for comedy - except for the mother lode of unintentional laughs in "Showgirls" - puts humor into this story of surprising warmth and bite. [24 Oct 1997]
- 70Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThe film is also strengthened by a pair of adroit lead performances by Brad Renfro and Kevin Bacon, actors who completely understand their characters and know how to make the most of them on screen.
- 67Austin ChronicleRussell SmithAustin ChronicleRussell SmithWith help from talented young director Ferland and a sublime performance from Kevin Bacon, Eszterhas has created a gentle and affecting ode to universal growing-up conflicts within a beautifully rendered evocation of a specific time and place.
- 60EmpireEmpireA carefully evoked and unhurried number that won't bring the house down, this nonetheless ends up being more absorbing than you'd think.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumKevin Bacon's passionate, sharply drawn portrayal of Billy Magic, a slick, finger-snapping, payola-pocketing disc jockey in early 1960s Cleveland, is the best thing about this conventional but heartfelt semiautobiographical coming-of-age story
- 50Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerJoe Eszterhas's screenplay is vastly more thoughtful than his scripts for "Basic Instinct" and its ilk, but the storytelling is too spotty for the movie to become the effective moral tale it might have been.