Drinking Buddies
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: August 23, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 22, 2013
Drinking Buddies, Joe Swanberg’s nimble, knowing and altogether excellent new film, refuses to dance to the usual tune. Read full review
100
Village VoiceZachary WigonAug 20, 2013
With dexterity and care, Swanberg illuminates our muddled perceptions of our own relationships. He fixates on the minutiae of hanging out, the stuff of little loves and lies, the feints and thrusts we make in sorting matters of head and heart. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnApr 23, 2013
Swanberg once again shows a capacity for capturing small moments that exist outside the direction of the plot. At the same time, the effective fragments of "Drinking Buddies" take his oeuvre in a new direction by accumulating into a reworking big picture. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigAug 29, 2013
It's a meandering film that prompts the viewer to anticipate characters' actions. Fortunately, they don't take predictable paths. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 22, 2013
Writer-director-editor Swanberg should actually get first billing, as it’s his touch that makes Drinking Buddies something special. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanAug 21, 2013
The actors all blend terrifically, making this the film equivalent of great hang time. Read full review
82
Film.comWilliam GossApr 23, 2013
In a film about how hard it is to know what you want, and then to express it, Swanberg gets to the heart of the matters of the heart with disarming doses of both charm and wisdom. Read full review
80
Total FilmStephen KellyNov 3, 2013
Best of all, though, is the uneasy ring of truth, which will definitely still be with you the morning after. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonCatherine BrayOct 29, 2013
It can be very funny, but there’s a bittersweet streak underpinning even the lightest moments. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 5, 2013
What makes Drinking Buddies so compelling is that feeling that these are real people, behaving in real ways. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 4, 2013
Swanberg achieves an occasionally heady aura of improvisational flirtatiousness mixed with a churning will-they-or-won't-they suspense. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 22, 2013
Drinking Buddies is full of relatable dilemmas, guileless moments of kindness and character-based humor. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesSep 11, 2013
Much has been made of the fact that Swanberg has cast for the first time bona fide movie stars and not just his mumblecore pals: In fact, it's the making of the movie. If you're going to build an entire film on microexpressions, then a certain innate magnetism is required. Swanberg gets it in spades from his top-shelf cast. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsSep 26, 2013
Here’s a toast to the cast and crew: Drinking Buddies is a three-dimensional movie that doesn’t require beer goggles. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrSep 12, 2013
Drinking Buddies is further evidence that Wilde has more depth and ambition than mainstream Hollywood can currently handle, and it marks Swanberg as one of the subtler talents of his generation — a deceptively casual moralist whose films observe their characters without judging them yet whose conclusions are unmistakable. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceySep 5, 2013
Not much happens in Drinking Buddies, which, frankly, is refreshing. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezSep 5, 2013
All the actors are strong, but Wilde is particularly good as the impetuous Kate, who doesn’t realize how incredibly selfish she has become. The actress’ great beauty could have been a distraction, but her performance is so complex and alive that she blends right into this world of ordinary, working-class people with modest aspirations who are trying to find happiness but often go about it in all the wrong ways. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAug 29, 2013
This is a special movie. For almost 20 minutes, Drinking Buddies does almost nothing to indicate where the story is going or whether there is even going to be a story. And yet everything onscreen is interesting, because of the truth of the emotion and the specificity of detail. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartAug 22, 2013
In some ways, it feels like an indie meditation on the eternal “When Harry Met Sally” question: Can men and women be just friends? Here, though, the focus is on the small, often unsaid moments that define a friendship — and a murky attraction. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergAug 21, 2013
The entire film unfolds in a recognizable register of ominous hesitation; the results are a bit schematic but nevertheless hit on something real. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJul 30, 2013
We knew Livingston, Kendrick and Johnson (“Safety Not Guaranteed”) would work in this setting. But Wilde adds to the growing repertoire she showed off in “Deadfall” and “Butter,” films no one saw but which revealed that she’s a lot more than a pretty face. Read full review
75
The PlaylistCory EverettApr 23, 2013
Credit Swanberg who served as both director and editor for making a film that feels loose without ever being ponderous or phony. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid DenbySep 6, 2013
Citing Chekhov at this early time in Swanberg's career may be unfair, but an amiable movie like Drinking Buddies cried out for the revelations that a great dramatist--or even a talented screenwriter and director working together--can give us. [9 Sept. 2013, p.90]
63
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoAug 2, 2013
Less precise and cohesive than much of Joe Swanberg's recent work, as its small, improvisational skeleton struggles to meet the demands of the more ambitious story it's trying to tell. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 3, 2013
It's an intriguing and distinctive story, soberly told. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid FearAug 20, 2013
The best thing you can say about the movie is that you couldn’t accuse it of being a sellout — nor would you think it was a Joe Swanberg movie. Read full review
55
NPRElla TaylorAug 24, 2013
If Drinking Buddies is meant to be his ticket into mainstream comedy, it feels mumblecore-ishly vague and rambling in its construction, like "Hannah Takes the Stairs" without the raffish charm. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 22, 2013
The skillful quartet at the center of Drinking Buddies reveals the weaknesses in the material. Read full review
50
The DissolveNathan RabinJul 26, 2013
It deserves credit for avoiding the conventions of romantic comedies and defying audience expectations, but only to a degree. Instead of hitting the expected notes and beats, Drinking Buddies instead ambles sideways. It’s headed nowhere in particular, but at least the voyage is pleasant. Read full review
40
EmpireNick de SemlyenOct 28, 2013
Flat as day-old beer. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 23, 2013
Relative to the major brands, the intimate, handcrafted approach should yield more flavor. Instead, Drinking Buddies offers mostly froth. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonAug 23, 2013
Watching Drinking Buddies is like being the designated driver for a most uninteresting bunch of drinkers. Read full review
More From This Movie

71 Critic Reviews

6.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL