Being Flynn
Focus Features | Release Date: March 2, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
13
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
NPRBob MondelloMar 5, 2012
And then there's the simple fact of De Niro, playing a delusional taxi driver. It's easy to imagine Being Flynn's story turning precious in the wrong hands, but Weitz and his cast spin it just right - as a narrative that is both emotionally real, and just writerly enough to suit its leading men. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyFeb 27, 2012
Robert De Niro and writer-director Paul Weitz find the most congenial material either of them has had in quite some time in Being Flynn. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 27, 2012
The film surrounds its leads with a cast whose faces capture the ragtag dignity Flynn described in his book -- no overacting required, no emotional panhandling allowed. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyMar 24, 2012
It's an involving journey, remarkably free of sentimentality, deepened by the performances. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMar 16, 2012
He might be guilty of showboating, but De Niro's knockout performance is a declaration that the star of "Raging Bull" isn't ready to hang up his gloves. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMar 7, 2012
What's admirable about Being Flynn is that it doesn't cave in to the standard Hollywood redemption formulas, with the father redeemed and the son inspired. It's more complicated than that. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 2, 2012
Dano is still doing his ethereal, creepy underacting routine, but, compared with De Niro's scenery chewing, he seems almost dignified. The film, written and directed by Paul Weitz, has many touching moments and many more hokey ones. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonFeb 29, 2012
Weitz's sense of play and the Badly Drawn Boy soundtrack each give Being Flynn an enjoyable lightness; meanwhile, the curdled, hidden rage lurking within both Flynns gives it an equally enjoyable edge. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 15, 2012
The story is gripping, compelling. One wonders what De Niro might have done with such a role 30, 35 years ago. De Niro -- whatever happened to him? Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenMar 16, 2012
In this tale of two lives, Being Flynn gets the emphasis wrong. The success that has many fathers is altogether predictable; it's the despicable orphan of failure who has us in his thrall. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 2, 2012
Here, you can feel De Niro's full engagement in a character that echoes his roles in "Taxi Driver" and "Awakenings." It's a great wreck of a performance that feels bruisingly true. At its best, when it keeps sentimentality at bay, so does Being Flynn. Read full review
60
MovielineStephanie ZacharekMar 1, 2012
There's no doubt that Being Flynn is an attempt at something painful and genuine – the movie itself yearns to make a connection, even if it can't quite locate the most effective channels. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMar 21, 2012
On the whole, the film feels detached and morose, just like its characters. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 8, 2012
Mostly, though, Being Flynn is memorable for the sight of a once-great actor rousing himself to a performance the movie itself isn't prepared to handle. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMar 1, 2012
Paul Weitz has dialed things down considerably for Being Flynn, writing and directing with an earnest sensitivity that at times suits, at times undermines, the complexities of the story at hand. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 1, 2012
Robert De Niro has made several unwise choices in roles recently, and his belligerent wannabe writer in Being Flynn definitely adds to that list. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 1, 2012
There is honest feeling, genuine humanity and real intelligence in this movie, but there is also a sense of caution, of indecisiveness, that undermines its potential power. Being Flynn is an honorably ambivalent film, finally unsure of what to do with the two strong, complicated characters at its center. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 1, 2012
The movie's emotional content was manifest as an absence. What stayed with me most memorably was the father's insufferable bombast and the son's sad passivity. Read full review
50
TimeMary PolsMar 1, 2012
It's no wonder the movie is no walk in the park, even with a pretty soundtrack by Badly Drawn Boy (again, like About a Boy). It never feels inspirational - it's too gritty and dark - and there isn't a single easy solution in sight for either Nick or Jonathan. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanFeb 29, 2012
Is it possible for an actor to go through the motions even as he's going over the top? In Being Flynn, Robert De Niro does phoned-in scenery chewing. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedFeb 29, 2012
Too small and dark to appeal to a large audience, it's not a movie to cherish. Read full review
50
Village VoiceKarina LongworthFeb 28, 2012
What the actors are unable to get across emotionally (which is a lot - Dano and De Niro, both of them all big actorly tics, often seem like they were filmed in different rooms), Weitz hammers home via near-constant music. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMar 1, 2012
Weitz – who did a great job adapting Nick Hornby's "About a Boy" into an affecting 2002 movie – can't bring the pieces together here. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichFeb 28, 2012
Sadly, most of the film's dull edges have to do with De Niro, who is clearly in rest-on-his-laurels mode; at his worst, he approaches radioactive, Robin Williams levels of bathos, as when Jonathan - roaring like a bush-league Lear - is banned from the shelter for bad behavior. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickMar 2, 2012
The real coup de grace for this would-be serious-minded drama is the sledgehammer-subtle direction of Paul Weitz (who is also the screenwriter), who enabled his star's paycheck mugging in the execrable "Little Fockers." Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 8, 2012
A handful of acting moments aside, Being Flynn is a drama without much in the way of rewards. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundFeb 27, 2012
If Robert De Niro knew what was good for him, he'd certainly distance himself from this director and find a new path. Read full review
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