Adult Beginners
RADiUS-TWC | Release Date: April 24, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
14
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicMar 30, 2015
Katz, with the help of an inspired cast and an emotionally intelligent and mature screenplay, has succeeded in depicting the trials and tribulations of adults who, all for respectfully different yet equally weighty reasons, often make a three-year-old the most mature person in the room. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelApr 24, 2015
Byrne and Kroll are the reasons to see Adult Beginners. The story itself feels truncated, like there are bits missing that we should see, ambling along. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 23, 2015
Adult Beginners has a casual, comfortable, low-budget authenticity, though it loses some of its edge near the end with some overly predictable and familiar resolutions. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 1, 2015
Adult Beginners is funny and warm and sweet enough without overdoing it. Again, it's not groundbreaking, but it shakes things up a little. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 23, 2015
The kind of comedy that goes down easy even as it looks at the hard stuff. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangMar 30, 2015
This sophomore directing effort for Ross Katz (“Taking Chance”) resolves itself a bit too tidily in the final stretch, but sustains affection most of the way with its well-observed moments and gently offbeat comic rhythms. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianJeff BakerMay 14, 2015
A kinda funny, kinda charming movie about finding out what really matters. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 23, 2015
There aren’t enough laughs here to goose it past formulaic. It’s harmless and mild and likable, but it’s also a toothless comedy that should have had some bite. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerMay 7, 2015
A thoughtful, unsurprising dramatic comedy executive produced by Jay and Mark Duplass. If you know the indie filmmaking siblings from their HBO show Togetherness, you will be comfortable with the wry, understated Adult Beginners. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyApr 24, 2015
If you’re a big booster of any of the lead actors (I’m something of a Cannavale partisan myself), this will be worth your time. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryApr 23, 2015
There’s never any question where this is all headed: a huge blowup argument and a tidy resolution. That being said, the cast is excellent. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 23, 2015
Byrne is sensational, finding the broken places under Justine's rebellious hot-mom surface. Nothing groundbreaking here, but there's something to be said for a fun time that won't let the laughs go down too easy. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneApr 23, 2015
Given its played-out subject matter and hoary coming-to-terms narrative arc, one's ability to enjoy the film hangs on a tolerance for the ever-popular on-screen man-child. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonApr 23, 2015
Adult Beginners presents itself less as humor than as a study in Gen-X sociology and psychology. What happens when people raised in relative ease and who expect to live an even better life than their parents are left emotionally unequipped for reality? It might be touching. It might even be important. But it’s not exactly a lot of laughs. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 23, 2015
Dazzling on his recently concluded Kroll Show in multiple caricatures, Nick Kroll makes a savvy pivot to a role that allows for similar shades. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMarsha McCreadieApr 23, 2015
Married-in-real-life screenwriters Liz Flahive (Nurse Jackie) and Jeff Cox (Blades of Glory) can do poignant (not tossing family memorabilia) and clever (connecting Skype, hairspray, and stepparents), though the humor is intermittent. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 30, 2015
Katz is much more interested in observing Jake's newfound emotional core — and probably a bit too confident that a moist-eyed Kroll can turn this quite likable but slight family reunion into something more touching. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Apr 22, 2015
Adult Beginners, by contrast, is mostly just… nice. Neither dramatic enough to qualify as drama nor amusing enough to completely succeed as comedy, it’s the kind of movie that coasts on pleasantness, content to elicit a few smiles before disappearing from memory banks. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 23, 2015
The three leads remain watchable, but only the sourness in Jake’s face when he moves into Justine’s house hints at the kind of true and complex emotions that, bromide by bromide, this movie insistently denies. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughApr 23, 2015
A sometimes clever but ultimately clichéd comedy. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 23, 2015
The relative success or failure of Adult Beginners, directed with a steady, nonjudgmental hand by Ross Katz, depends on how funny you find Kroll. I find him funny-ish. Read full review
50
The DissolveNathan RabinApr 23, 2015
It does not seem like too much of a stretch to call Kroll a comic genius, but this kind of low-key sincerity does not suit his particular gifts. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickApr 22, 2015
The pleasant but forgettable Adult Beginners strains a bit too hard for a happy ending, and tends to lay on the schmaltz and metaphors (like the swim class that gives the film its title) with a trowel. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleWilliam GossApr 22, 2015
The story is littered with simplistic character arcs, obvious metaphors (the title comes from a swimming class), and big decisions involving the importance of work over family. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 21, 2015
Byrne and Kroll have a nice estranged sibling chemistry, not up to “The Skeleton Twins,” but in that ballpark. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsKatherine PushkarApr 23, 2015
The not-funny-enough dialogue can’t mask writer Kroll’s unoriginal plot. Read full review
40
TheWrapJames RocchiApr 23, 2015
There’s nothing here that actually digs deep enough into any of the films’ surface-level concerns — maturity, responsibility, parenting, siblinghood — to snap the movie out of its own slumber. Read full review
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