Answers to Nothing
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: December 2, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
29
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
5
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertNov 30, 2011
The interlocking stories are theoretically about people whose lives are associated; that worked in "Crash." Here the connections seem less immediate and significant, and so the movie sometimes seems based on a group of separate short stories. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerDec 1, 2011
Some fine performances and an embrace of understatement make Matthew Leutwyler's oddly titled Answers to Nothing a respectable entry in the multiple-stories-that-interlock genre. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis HarveyNov 30, 2011
Stitching together a quilt of stories involving disparate Angelenos in the mode of "Magnolia" and "Short Cuts" and myriad other crisscrossers, this somber drama is well crafted and watchable but lacks the distinctive story content, style and standout performances to become more than a serviceable reboot of familiar ideas. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallDec 1, 2011
Among the other characters are an African-American TV writer (Kali Hawk) who hates black people and a widower (Erik Palladino) who stumbles onto a kidnapping case. The latter development provides the film with a denouement that's dramatically valid if overly neat. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 3, 2011
Apparently, it takes a village - or the collection of villages known as Los Angeles - to go nowhere slowly. Read full review
40
MovielineAlison WillmoreDec 1, 2011
"A Short Cuts" full of self-pitying sociopaths, Answers to Nothing follows its characters toward a succession of increasingly queasy conclusions it tries to pass off as heartfelt and human. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinDec 1, 2011
Films like these have taught us that suffering is the incontrovertible existential fate of attractive Los Angeles residents. Must these dour exercises in alienation make audiences suffer as well? Read full review
30
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 1, 2011
You know it's not working when you don't care about any of them. Sadly, that's the case with Answers to Nothing, Matthew Leutwyler's dud about a revolving cast of characters in Los Angeles. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliDec 1, 2011
The result is a diligent brand of gloom. When it isn't being diligently gloomy, it's being obvious. When it isn't being obvious, it's being sneaky, and when it isn't being sneaky, it's marching toward a climax of B-movie violence, stupidity and nuttiness that summarily bumps off the movie's least annoying character. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisDec 1, 2011
None of what we see is at all credible. Read full review
20
Time OutDavid FearNov 29, 2011
Not one single character strikes you as being anything but a mouthpiece for writer-director Matthew Leutwyler's simplistic views on socio-emotional problems (racial self-hatred! post-rehab guilt!) or an excuse for self-satisfied, back-patting acting exercises. The title is an understatement. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundDec 2, 2011
Speculation is futile, as plausible, worthwhile answers are the last things Answers to Nothing is prepared to give. Not that you really cared anyway. Read full review
0
New York PostLou LumenickDec 2, 2011
A root canal seems a more pleasurable way to pass two hours than this interminable vanity knockoff of "Traffic" about troubled Angelenos. Read full review
0
Village VoiceAaron HillisNov 29, 2011
The most embarrassing project on co-star Barbara Hershey's resume. Read full review
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