45
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63New York PostSara StewartNew York PostSara StewartAs About Alex moves toward its conclusion, it devolves into some plot resolutions that were a lot less predictable back in the ’80s.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThere's nothing new under the sun, but About Alex is very, very not new. Luckily, most of its capable cast muster the warmth we require, and Zwick's script offers more humor (however mild the laughs are) than sentimentality.
- 50Village VoiceAbby GarnettVillage VoiceAbby GarnettA lightweight Big Chill reworked for today's young professional set, which proves too clumsy and self-conscious to live up to its weighty subject matter.
- 50The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloAbout Alex benefits from a uniformly strong cast that does its best to find moments of truth in the banal, derivative scenario they’ve been handed.
- 50Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzOf the bunch, Plaza, Minghella and Parker fare best, though Parker's Ben is weighed down with cliches. Alex ostensibly is the focal point of the film, but Ritter is relegated mostly to observer status, healing while watching the melodramas unfold around him. A few of them are interesting. But not enough, not in a story that seems familiar because, after all, it is.
- 40The DissolveNoel MurrayThe DissolveNoel MurrayIf About Alex were the pilot to a new television series, there’d be reason to stick around for a few episodes, if only to see these actors grow into their roles and develop more chemistry. But About Alex isn’t television, and Zwick never really solves the problem of how to make a houseful of semi-likable characters into cinema.
- 40Film.comFilm.comThe only thing moviegoers will hate more than the phony, faux-felt conversations of About Alex at its worst is the unfulfilled promise its high points suggest when it’s at its best.
- 40New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanOn the bright side, the actors are experienced enough to anchor their free-floating characters. But if you’d like to see this sort of thing done well, watch 2011’s infinitely superior Channing Tatum dramedy “10 Years” on Netflix instead.
- 38Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasSlant MagazineDavid Lee DallasHowever self-aware the film may be, its characters and moods and conflicts are too over-determined and familiar to linger in the memory very long after the credits roll.