Hello I Must Be Going
Oscilloscope Pictures | Release Date: September 7, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeSep 7, 2012
There are some catches, including a breathy-voiced indie-rock soundtrack so bad you wonder if it's contributing to Amy's malaise. But overall, the comedy is a lovely showcase for Lynskey and the rest of the cast. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumSep 5, 2012
Working from a script by his wife, Sarah Koskoff, "High Fidelity" actor-turned-director Todd Louiso shapes the movie to Lynskey's rhythms. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJames RocchiSep 1, 2012
Warm and funny, real and raw, Hello I Must Be Going deserves a hearty welcome from moviegoers looking for an honest and frank comedy that never forgets to help us care about its characters. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonOct 19, 2012
At once an intriguing character study and a refreshingly offbeat romance. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrOct 18, 2012
The movie's sharp-tongued and softhearted, a Sundance kind of film that mostly sidesteps generic Sundanceyness. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertSep 19, 2012
I can imagine a broader comedy in which the situation might work. Remember Mrs. Robinson or Stifler's mom? But here there's a fugitive undercurrent of sincerity. Hello, I Must Be Going raises questions it doesn't have the answers for. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigSep 13, 2012
While it's too hastily and neatly resolved, Hello I Must Be Going is a funny, well-written, involving and emotionally honest tale. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerSep 5, 2012
Thanks to Melanie Lynskey's performance, the movie feels like a believably worked-out, sympathetically presented study in thirtysomething uncertainty. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirSep 1, 2012
If it's too subtle (and too similar to several other low-key indie romcoms) to make a big splash, it's got lovely performances and really builds strength as it goes along. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenSep 27, 2012
The film is worth seeing for the performances, but the drama is a nonstarter. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerSep 7, 2012
Abbott has a compelling unpredictability, though, and in a couple of his scenes with Lynskey, you can spot the stirrings of a more complex film than the one we finally ended up with. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinSep 5, 2012
The film plays like a strenuous tug of war between the inhuman machinery of a wildly misguided plot and the low-key humanism of Melanie Lynskey's warm yet unsentimental performance. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 21, 2012
Hello I Must Be Going isn't heavy lifting, to be sure. But it's still worthy of a little end zone dance. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 20, 2012
There are times when the facile flimsiness of Hello I Must Be Going threatens to float right off the screen. But Lynskey has her ways of surprising us, even when nothing in the script itself is doing so. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 8, 2012
Writer Sarah Koskoff's nuanced script and director Todd Louiso's ("Love, Liza") delicate tone follow indie terrain, but go the right way. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottSep 6, 2012
This is ultimately a tale of affirmation, self-acceptance and second chances, and its lessons, while not unwelcome, are a bit too forced and neatly packaged to make it fully satisfying. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAndrew SchenkerSep 4, 2012
With a digital sheen exacerbating the aura of slightness, Hello vamps along in its low indie-rom-com key toward a climactic mother-daughter moment not nearly as harrowing as the one in Lynskey's 1994 debut, but moving nonetheless. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn LevySep 20, 2012
The script's contrivances and the director's lax handling aren't enough to hold you. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSep 20, 2012
The mind-numbingly predictable, but admittedly watchable Hello I Must Be Going needed less whine and more surprise. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranSep 6, 2012
Even though as a whole Hello I Must Be Going lets us down in the second half, the pleasure of watching Lynskey and Abbott never diminishes. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthySep 1, 2012
A credibly drawn central character is trapped inside a half-cooked dramatic stew in Hello I Must Be Going. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichSep 4, 2012
Lynskey has raised the quality of innumerable feature films (as a soft-spoken New Republic reporter in Shattered Glass; a housewife on the verge of a nervous breakdown in Away We Go-that film's sole saving grace). So it's a delight to see this stalwart character actor move to center stage, even when the result is so by-the-numbers. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 1, 2012
As a director, Louiso operates within a narrow emotional range; while not as bleak as "Love Liza," the film feels similarly monotonous and desperately needs more dramatic fluctuation. Read full review
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