All Is Bright
Anchor Bay Films | Release Date: October 4, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
7
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenOct 3, 2013
A sardonic, smart screwball comedy. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirOct 4, 2013
Ror me its heartbreaking denouement – with shades of a Raymond Carver or William Kennedy ending – packed a prodigious emotional wallop. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeOct 7, 2013
Although laughs do come... the film is happy to observe wryly as boredom and failure threaten to overwhelm the men. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie ScheibOct 7, 2013
This engaging if somewhat underwhelming tale of unlikely redemption builds a funny-sad web of intersecting interactions around its strong central perfs. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyOct 3, 2013
In its own strange way, All Is Bright pulls you in even as it frustrates. This is far from a picture-perfect Christmas story, mind you, but there is a spirit in its celebration of disappointment that is quite special. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloOct 2, 2013
Directed by Phil Morrison (Junebug) from a lackluster script by Melissa James Gibson, All Is Bright coasts entirely on the formidable talent of its cast, though Giamatti merely offers another variation on the irascible persona he’s been cultivating since Sideways, while Rudd is ultimately defeated by his character’s shapelessness. Read full review
50
The DissolveTasha RobinsonSep 15, 2013
A film that veers between caustic comedy, melodrama, and heartstring-tugging, without finding the spark of sympathy that would hold the film together around its disparate tones. Read full review
50
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezSep 6, 2013
Semi-flat with only a few jokes and emotional beats that land, the picture is often dull when it should be poignant. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChris CabinSep 6, 2013
All Is Bright remains engaging, for the most part, but most of the big narrative turns feel both predictable and forced, and at odds with the natural charms of the cast. Read full review
50
Film.comJordan HoffmanSep 6, 2013
There are tones of 1970s shaggy realism that are interrupted by moments of character-driven shtick. The wistful scenes aren’t rich enough to engross you and the comedy isn’t clever enough to make a difference. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanOct 4, 2013
Giamatti and Rudd banter with appeal, but Melissa James Gibson’s lackluster script doesn’t offer either much to work with. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearOct 1, 2013
Awkward banter, a lack of narrative thrust and concentrated character deep-digging, and a performance by Sally Hawkins as a Russian maid that seems beamed in from another movie all contribute to the cinematic equivalent of a half-baked fruitcake. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickOct 4, 2013
Their misadventures in the Big Apple, including Giamatti’s involvement with a Russian house sitter (a bizarrely cast Sally Hawkins) are neither funny nor touching, just tedious. Read full review
30
Village VoiceNick SchagerOct 1, 2013
Maudlin and mirthless, it's a film misbegotten enough to almost make one hate Christmas. Read full review
25
ObserverRex ReedOct 1, 2013
The script, by Melissa James Gibson, is as scintillating as a dead rodent. Read full review
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