It's Willis who delivers the goods in scene after scene, triumphing over a thin script, often bland direction.
60
Film.comPeter Brunette
Film.comPeter Brunette
It's solid, if ultimately uninspired, July entertainment.
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Vigilant viewers may spend many of the 101 minutes fixating on tiny holes in the plot, but I was busy being moved by the premise and the filmmakers' confidence in the power of their metaphor: a little boy who's disappointed in the man he grew up to be.
A movie we might like to buy into if left to our own devices, but that idea is anathema to Turteltaub, intent on pushing us so hard that we end up pushing back.
50
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
This boomer-coddling comic fantasy, in which a callous adult on the brink of 40 has a chance encounter with his pudgy, lisping 8-year-old self, is an iffier what-if.
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Willis and Breslin are stuck in a charmless, predictable picture they can't escape.
40
TV Guide MagazineSteve Simels
TV Guide MagazineSteve Simels
Manipulative but fitfully entertaining "Twilight Zone"-ish comedy of redemption.
20
VarietyTodd McCarthy
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Director Jon Turteltaub's insistence upon hammering every point home with giant closeups and relentless musical underlining makes this insufferably cloying and sickly sweet.