Domestic Disturbance
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 2, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
29
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
5
Negative:
18
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Every signifier in this quintessentially American domestic thriller is in satisfying running order. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A thriller that presses all the buttons: parental love, childhood terror, fear of Vince Vaughn. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Doesn't make nearly the ripple it could have made.
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
A refreshingly unpretentious little thriller. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Although decked out with a legitimate star and handsome production carpentry, pic takes no greater interest in creating three-dimensional characters or fleshing out a credible storyline than does the run-of-the-mill straight-to-video thriller. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The movie has a suspenseful moment or two, and it's never hard to watch, but it's ultimately one more totally forgettable Hollywood thriller. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Travolta, a bit portly (or is it starboardly?), phones in his performance from his place in Maine; Vaughn is ice-cool but not especially convincing; the kid is OK, and Polo is a blank.
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Does a masterful job of building menace until about halfway through. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
It's predictable stuff, though with a nice old-fashioned edge. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Sttrictly movie-of-the-week stuff. And not very good stuff, at that.
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
There's almost no reason to see the movie, unless you have no qualms about wasting your time. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Why Travolta is slumming in B movies is anybody's guess. (I'll take a wild flier: "Battlefield Earth"?) Read full review
38
USA TodayMike Clark
Anyone who sees this movie is going to be 20 minutes ahead of it, though there won't be that many after Weekend 1. With domestic disturbances, someone calls the cops. With this DOA, someone had better call the coroner. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is a paid holiday for its director, Harold Becker. I say this because I know what Becker is capable of. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The film's subtexts are profoundly reactionary. Women are foolish and untrustworthy. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Few movies feel quite so perfunctory or needless or pointless as this one. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The movie is pure product, and proud of it: There isn't a single surprising moment in all of its 88 minutes, because Domestic Disturbance is designed to stick to tried-and-true formulas, instead of shaking them up a little. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesGene Seymour
So TV-movie-of-the-week that you wonder throughout why you can't use a remote to find a decent ballgame. Read full review
20
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Jettisoning any ambition toward thrillerhood, Domestic Disturbance becomes a plodding, obvious angry-dad melodrama, ambling toward the final, fatal showdown between parent and usurper. Read full review
20
New Times (L.A.)Robert Wilonsky
Travolta is stuck giving a remarkable performance in a film so trivial and offensive its mere existence is as loathsome as it is laughable. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It's likely there's going to be some “viewer disturbance” going on after audiences catch a whiff of this routine and thrill-less suspenser. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The script is woefully inept, with plot twists that wouldn't pass muster in a high-school drama class.
20
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It's clear from the outset that a thriller is going to be big and dumb -- as opposed to tight and smart. Read full review
10
Washington PostRita Kempley
The most surprising thing about the movie is that somebody bothered to make it in the first place. Read full review
10
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Absurd beyond belief or reason. Read full review
10
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
As the basest form of genre hootenanny, it wimps out: There's no twist, no showboat acting, not even an outrageous crisis of paternal violence. Read full review
10
Film ThreatMichael Dequina
The real "disturbance" in Domestic Disturbance is not in the home, but in the careers of all involved. Read full review
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