Alex & Emma
Warner Home Video | Release Date: June 20, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
32
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
17
Negative:
17
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Alex & Emma isn't nearly as clever as Reiner's classic "Misery," a very different look at a male writer and his female companion. But it's diverting fun. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A desperately slight romantic comedy marked by contrived romance and little comedy. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Though it has some mildly amusing moments (mostly in the visuals accompanying the novel's narration), Alex & Emma is disappointing, neither very romantic nor very comic. Read full review
50
PremiereLaine Ewen
Had the picture maintained a sense of lightheartedness, it may have better lived up to its genre. But, as is, Alex & Emma is flat, neither whimsically romantic nor consistently comedic. Read full review
50
Film ThreatKevin Carr
Too much of Alex & Emma is an overt attempt to recreate the lightning in a bottle Reiner achieved with “When Harry Met Sally.” Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Reiner gets lucky with his two stars. Wilson has charm to spare, and Hudson brings humor and sexiness to playing Emma and four au pair girls from different countries. But even they can't float a balloon with lead in it. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The contrived script is stretched to the breaking point by Reiner's listless direction. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Other than a high cuteness factor, there's not much here. This is a warmed-over, low-end recycling of director Rob Reiner's own "When Harry Met Sally." Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Hudson and Wilson share a natural and easy chemistry that helps compensate for the Cuban-mobster subplot. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The movie doesn't deserve any of the talent bestowed on it, from Reiner's amiable direction to the occasional grace notes in the performances of Hudson, Marceau and David Paymer. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
This is a movie full of tin-eared humor and situations too contrived to give romance a toehold. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
From the incessant rain that blurs the joyless Boston setting to the mysterious decision to make a brunette Hudson look as plain as possible, it's an evanescent fancy devoid of sparkle. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A cute and amusing little romance that has all the fiery impetuosity of an egg sandwich. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
This is still Reiner's worst movie since 1994's "North." Wilson is lackluster, the film's depiction of the collaborative process is (unlike "Adaptation") tortuously false, and it's so disrespectful to the realities of writing and publishing that it has no satiric bite. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Dull and listless from the start, partly because the leads fail to connect and partly because both the script and the direction let them down. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The actors make this fun if you can overlook the ludicrous view of Jeremy Leven's screenplay. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Life imitates art, except there’s precious little of either here. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The movie and the movie-within-a-movie share a chemistry even more awkward than that of their flat-footed leads. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The lack of sexual tension is astounding. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Wilson brings low-wattage amiability to his part, as always. Hudson's mismatched with him but tries to set him afire. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunRoger Moore
Alex & Emma is a literary-minded romantic comedy that barely passes English, and flunks chemistry. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Emma writes everything down and then offers helpful suggestions, although she fails to supply the most useful observation of all, which would be to observe that the entire novel is complete crap. Read full review
33
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
You can't help but think how much better this film would be had Woody Allen directed it...How much more acerbic fun would it be to see Judy Davis playing stenographer to a neurotic, writer's-blocked Woody? Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's hard to say what's more excruciating: Alex's novel, which is like ''The Great Gatsby'' rewritten by Lizzie McGuire, or his quarrelsome flirtation with Emma, who has no existence as a character apart from her drive to reshape Alex into a specimen of respectable tamed manhood. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A stunningly inert piece of cinema, a movie that basically boils down to serial shots of people talking to each other. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The inside story is weak, dull and head-poundingly boring, and the outside story is only slightly better, thanks to the lukewarm likability of its two stars. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
It's like a three-times-too-long sitcom pilot missing the laugh track. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A painfully contrived and artificial exercise in futility. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Watching Wilson and Hudson toil thanklessly through this mess is more laborious than writing the Great American Novel. And a lot less lucrative. Read full review
25
Philadelphia InquirerKaren Heller
Reiner, who made "This is Spinal Tap," "The Sure Thing," "When Harry Met Sally" -- memorable movies all -- has made this silly slice of Lean Cuisine. And that, in the end, makes Alex and Emma an utter tragedy. Read full review
20
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
There's so little chemistry between Mr. Wilson and Ms. Hudson that you begin to look back on what now seems like the halcyon time of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Read full review
20
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
It's like an amateur theater production. Reiner rushes through the setup in such a mad dash that it feels like a cartoon. Read full review
10
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
This isn't one for the time capsule--just bury it. Read full review
10
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
How could a movie with such likable actors be so deeply dislikable?
0
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Astonishingly dull. The leads have zero chemistry, the supporting actors are even worse, and the script is a lifeless, draggy thing. Read full review
More From This Movie

32 Critic Reviews

8.4 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL