A Little Help
Freestyle Releasing | Release Date: July 22, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJul 27, 2011
It's manipulative, yes, but clever and persuasive in its manipulations. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle SmithJul 22, 2011
File this one in the same category of edgy Long Island comedies as the equally smart 2009 Alec Baldwin film "Lymelife." Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJul 28, 2011
Smith turns in a subtly layered performance that suggests the hurt behind Kathy's callousness. And O'Donnell gets to the heart of a man who realizes too late that he's made unfortunate choices. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJul 28, 2011
This is one of the smarter, more honest scripts to be filmed in quite some time. And Jenna Fischer, star of "The Office," gives one of the smarter, more honest - and vulnerable, and tough - performances by an actress on the big screen in an even longer stretch. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyKeith StaskiewiczJul 20, 2011
Fischer's performance is sweet and subtle, but the film can be so understated in tone and plot that it's hard to tell if it's actually saying anything. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 28, 2011
A Little Help settles for familiar and modest payoffs. It's not much. Yet Fischer clearly relishes the chance to play someone who's a demurely reckless mess. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 23, 2011
A Little Help is worth watching, mostly for Fischer. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 22, 2011
Weithorn, a sitcom vet whose credits include "Ned and Stacey" and "The King of Queens," makes sure even the quiet moments in the unassuming "A Little Help" move things forward. And that every one of Laura's missteps is in the right direction. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenJul 21, 2011
What writer-director Michael J. Weithorn, a sitcom vet, gets right is the Long Island vibe, the New York smarts crossed with small-town insularity. If the film takes too long to reach its rather soft denouement, Fischer makes Laura's awakening convincing. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJul 21, 2011
Though the enjoyable prickliness of the film's early scenes soon dissolves into cozy solutions, a sturdy supporting cast - even Ron Leibman's scenery-chewing turn as Laura's blowhard father is more amusing than annoying - balances the scales. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondJul 18, 2011
A highly entertaining and richly human movie experience with a gem of a performance from Jenna Fischer. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinJul 21, 2011
It's difficult to figure out exactly where the film might be heading at any given point, since it follows the loping, meandering rhythms and casualness of a character study rather than conforming to the conventions of any particular genre. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliJul 28, 2011
Some of the film is imaginatively put together. But the melodrama feels forced - manipulated by filmmakers hell-bent on teaching its main character a lesson or two about life and the need to seize it. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJul 21, 2011
Ultimately, the film is best appreciated as a welcome big-screen starring vehicle for Fischer, who expertly navigates the comedic and dramatic demands of a role that keeps her onscreen for virtually the entire running time. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJul 20, 2011
The movie wants to be an exploration of family ties and the various ways in which the people we love respond in times of crisis, but the drama is unconvincing, the characters are ill-defined, and Fischer, so good on The Office, seems a bit incomplete without Jim at her side. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedJul 19, 2011
A benign slice of life about suburban angst on Long Island. It's not much, but thanks to the noble efforts of a very good cast, I've seen worse. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAaron HillisJul 19, 2011
The film is as average and forgettable. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearJul 19, 2011
While Fischer handles every emotional curveball, she's not helped by the film's reliance on rote notions of piecing your life back together. Is it worth putting a good actor through the screen-martyrdom wringer for a minuscule payoff? Read full review
40
VarietyDennis HarveyJul 18, 2011
This tale of a Long Island dental hygienist dealing with various family crises is likable enough, but never really distinctive in character delineation, tone, atmosphere or plotting. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineNick SchagerJul 18, 2011
Michael J. Weithorn's direction underlined its understatement via self-consciously patient camerawork and a doleful score, all in order to further the mournful mood. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisJul 28, 2011
It's not that Jenna Fischer is miscast in A Little Help. It's that she's mis-everything else: misused, misdirected, misanthropic. Read full review
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