Better Living Through Chemistry
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: March 14, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
9
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
ObserverRex ReedMar 12, 2014
The end result of this stoned-cold picnic is both haphazardly successful and somewhat disappointing, but it’s worth seeing, thanks enormously to the tremendous charisma of Sam Rockwell. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMar 13, 2014
If the behavior of the characters had been more recognizably human in its venality, and the film's perspective more ruthless, this custom-made compound might have worked. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 13, 2014
Better Living Through Chemistry never becomes a full-fledged film noir. It reads as an unabashedly positive infomercial for gorging on the apparently risk-free, liberating products of Big Pharma. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinMar 13, 2014
The film often defies expectations but also winds up sidestepping the kind of trapdoors and quicksand that might have made the ride more exhilarating. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonMar 13, 2014
It tries too hard, but at least it's trying. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 12, 2014
Amusing but not as funny or suspenseful as it could be. Read full review
50
Village VoiceInkoo KangMar 11, 2014
Never feels as triumphant or as affecting as it should, but the script boasts some amusing meanness of spirit. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMar 11, 2014
The cloying narration and the inclusion of Fonda are just warnings for that moment, 70 minutes in, when this comic chemical train goes completely off the rails. Rockwell, Wilde, Monaghan are worth the price of admission, but “Better Living” would have been better off with more chemistry and less cutesy. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenMar 9, 2014
A sexily chaotic parody of entitlement becomes just another tale of a white dude learning that there are worse things in life than essentially having no problems. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMar 13, 2014
The unexpected chemistry between Sam Rockwell and Olivia Wilde helps balance this sour noir comedy. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireMar 14, 2014
Playing namby-pamby is not Sam Rockwell's strong suit. Read full review
38
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMar 13, 2014
One hopes that, for their own good, when any of these actors are offered a script like this again, they’ll have the sense to just say no. Read full review
38
New York PostSara StewartMar 12, 2014
Rockwell is incapable of being boring, so there’s some small entertainment to be found in watching his buttoned-up beta male blossom into full Sam Rockwell. Read full review
30
VarietyGeoff BerkshireMar 14, 2014
There isn’t a pharmaceutical cocktail powerful enough to improve the dreadful comedy of Better Living Through Chemistry. Read full review
20
The DissolveNathan RabinMar 13, 2014
Better Living Through Chemistry suggests a new cinematic rule: the more impressed a movie is with itself, the less likely it is to impress a discriminating audience liable to have seen all its silly little tricks before. Read full review
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