48
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinFor all its low-key charms, the coming-of-age story risks being too Christian for secular audiences and too secular and colorful for Christian audiences: Like its spiritual seeker of a protagonist, it's caught between worlds.
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineBlue Like Jazz charts a typical existential coming-of-age tale, yet remains atypical by being hip while also treating religion fairly.
- 63Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanWithout being parodistic, it manages to poke fun at the air of privilege and strenuous political correctness common to lefty, liberal arts schools, while retaining a certain affection for their heartfelt quirks.
- 50VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangRemains as tame in its presentation as its target audience would expect. Students drink beers on occasion, but no one is shown having sex, taking mind-altering substances or using language that would jeopardize a PG-13 rating. On the plus side, the film also abstains from any overt message-mongering.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceOne only has so much patience, though, for watching Communion-wafer-thin characters caught in a liberal-arts cartoon.
- 50Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrIt does give believers and those tottering on the edge something to chew on, and it steadfastly refuses to demonize everybody else.
- 42Portland OregonianMarc MohanPortland OregonianMarc MohanThe potential for an interesting story is high. Unfortunately, Miller's autobiographical tale, as told in Blue Like Jazz, squanders this potential by failing to take place in a recognizably real world.
- 40The New York TimesRachel SaltzThe New York TimesRachel SaltzThrough it all Mr. Allman, who played the skeevy Tommy on "True Blood," is a pleasant presence but blank. And Don's crisis of faith, which should be the movie's core and engine, is never really convincing. It's spelled out but dramatically inert, lost among the yuks of the Reed kookiness.
- 30Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenThe primary problem with Blue Like Jazz is that there is no believable character development.
- 20Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearThe movie adaptation's version of religion may be more nuanced than the usual Left Behind fire-and-brimstone sermonizing you find in much contemporary pro-Christian cinema, but it still leaves behind a sulfuric stink.