Flannel Pajamas
Gigantic Pictures | Release Date: November 15, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
8
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
So truly and exceptionally fine, a spiny and dispassionate little masterpiece of a marriage movie. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Strong performances and sharp dialogue distinguish Jeff Lipsky's melancholy second feature, which charts the two-year course of a "perfect" relationship whose flaws are evident from the outset. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Curiously, the film seems to have no discernible point, and yet -- this is practically unique -- the absence of a point becomes, in itself, a form of narrative interest. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Mr. Lipsky’s screenplay, a messy collection of fragments arranged chronologically, adds up to one of the most intimate screen portraits of a relationship ever attempted. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The hero remains such an exhibitionistically cocky, walled-off jerk that Flannel Pajamas' glib conversational ''candor'' yields no mystery. And that's a problem in two hours of talk. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Love can be a battleground, and, despite its homey-sounding title and gentle, almost nonchalant air, Jeff Lipsky's Flannel Pajamas gives us a series of messages from the front. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
You never really end up rooting for their happiness, as a couple or individually, so emotionally there's not much at stake. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
The script is overwritten and has too many themes--suicide, abuse, anti-Semitism--to support, but Nicholson does remarkable work in an unsympathetic role, helped by Lipsky's fine control of his characters. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJames Greenberg
What starts out seeming like a poor man's Woody Allen morphs into something closer to an American version of "Scenes From a Marriage." Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Visually, the film is without flair or ambition, conveying no sense of atmosphere or mood. But the performances put it over. Read full review
50
Village VoiceRob Nelson
At a full two hours, Lipsky's talky movie is more compelling in its second half, when the spouses finally get around to being themselves. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
In what essentially is a two-character play, Kirk and Nicholson behave more like acting partners than real people. Their lack of appetite for each other is particularly awkward in the frequent scenes requiring casual nudity and sexual activity. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The results are far from perfect: For one thing, Lipsky is so far from being a fluid visual storyteller that the garishly lit, appallingly composed Flannel Pajamas makes another two-hander talkfest Lipsky famously distributed -- "My Dinner With Andre" -- seem like "Lawrence of Arabia" by comparison. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
For all the time we spend watching Justin and Nicole negotiate their needs, we have no idea who these people are. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
For much of Flannel Pajamas I wondered if the couple's big problem was that Stuart was secretly gay. Nothing so interesting - he's just a narcissistic control freak and she's off-puttingly needy. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Ever been on a blind date that you knew would be dismal from the start? Well, this is the movie version of that date, stretched out over the slowest two hours imaginable. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The two main characters are so shallow and self-involved -- not to mention the friends, family members and sundry apparatchiks they lug around with them -- that the two hours of Flannel Pajamas begin to feel like real time. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Opaque acting, excruciating dialogue, and flat, affectless direction certainly don't help, but even in brilliant hands, Flannel Pajamas would still be a movie about two horrible, unsympathetic people doing dreadful things to each other, and learning nothing in the process. Why should anyone else have to endure it too? Read full review
20
Film ThreatDon R. Lewis
The thing is, these chatty, pedantic, annoying characters are simply not interesting enough to follow for five minutes, let alone over two hours. Read full review
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