Laggies
A24 | Release Date: October 24, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
TheWrapInkoo KangOct 21, 2014
Shelton's comedy isn't just smart, but cheerfully wise; not just funny, but cleverly and endlessly so. Read full review
83
IndieWireEmma MyersJan 27, 2014
Even if the film doesn't leave much to ponder past the closing credits, it's enjoyable while it's unfolding, doing justice to the strengths of Shelton's ever-expanding filmography. Read full review
82
Film.comJames RocchiJan 20, 2014
Superbly written, handsomely made and full of terrific performances, Laggies is Shelton’s best film to date. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyOct 23, 2014
The director is increasingly adept at getting her actors to bask in emotions without any pretensions. It makes for easy watching. Seigel's breezy script makes the dialogue easy listening. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanNov 7, 2014
Laggies doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it puts an engaging spin on the old canard about high school being the best years of our lives. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 6, 2014
For the most part, Laggies offers an engaging portal into the life of an appealingly confused 28-year old who doesn't have all the answers and isn't afraid to admit it. Coming-of-age stories, it seems, needn't be limited to teenagers. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 30, 2014
So here’s the case of a movie that is, in every way, nothing special — except for the way it’s made and how it’s done. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyMelissa MaerzOct 22, 2014
What saves Laggies is Knightley, who's all gangly limbs and pouty faces, schlepping around in pajamas, acting exactly like a teenager trapped in a grown-up world. Read full review
75
HitfixDrew McWeenyOct 21, 2014
It's a gentle, amiable, sincere little movie, and we could use about a hundred more Lynn Sheltons in this business, making movies that feel this lived in, this true. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 5, 2014
It's fun to watch the actors work. But you wish they had material a little stronger to work with. Laggies doesn't give it to them. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriOct 31, 2014
We basically know where Laggies is headed; the film is a soft, straight, easy pitch down the middle, story-wise. And it’s a light movie: You won’t get a particularly profound look at adults who act like kids from it. Read full review
70
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekOct 21, 2014
Even though Laggies is clearly well-intentioned — and the anxieties it tussles with are completely believable — the film is awkward in ways that are sometimes charming and sometimes off-putting. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJan 27, 2014
More structure and polish doesn't keep Lynn Shelton's latest from being recognizably hers. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangJan 27, 2014
If the narrative progression feels too tidy and circumscribed, Shelton’s talent for bringing out the best in her actors remains satisfyingly intact. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenNov 5, 2014
Despite its pleasant veneer, Laggies is a bit adrift itself. Winning performances keep us engaged – and a one-sequence appearance by Gretchen Mol as Annika’s mother who flew the coop is hauntingly complex. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 6, 2014
There are enough indie clichés to blunt this movie’s edge. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayOct 30, 2014
Laggies possesses irrepressible cheer, optimism and an innate sense of ease that often go missing in angstier productions loosely organized under “Aging, fear of.” Unlike its sometimes annoyingly wishy-washy heroine, this is a movie that knows just where it’s going, and finds joy in the journey. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneOct 23, 2014
To Keira Knightley's credit, she's all too willing to undercut her pretty-girl reputation by looking and acting a fool for Lynn Shelton's camera. Read full review
63
New York PostSara StewartOct 22, 2014
The best thing about the film – which is true of most of his roles – is Rockwell. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreOct 22, 2014
Moretz is as real as ever, and Knightley manages Megan’s transition from annoyingly naive to adorably confused. But for that she has help, and for that she and we should thank Rockwell. In this case, the actor most accomplished at playing slackers is the one who gets everybody — and the movie — to grow up. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 7, 2014
Even when Laggies strains against its contrived conceit, his (Rockwell) chemistry with Knightley goes a long way in classing up the joint and making Shelton's film feel just deep enough to pass muster. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottOct 23, 2014
This is a nice movie. It’s frisky and cheerful, even when tears are on the way. But it isn’t a very good movie, mainly because, like its heroine, it’s reluctant to make up its mind about what it wants to be. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanOct 22, 2014
The unavoidable obstacle is that the perpetually elegant Knightley does not belong. Not at a prom, not furtively partying in a parent’s basement and not, alas, in this movie. Read full review
60
The TelegraphAmber WilkinsonJan 27, 2014
The plot strong-arms the characters into increasingly contrived and overly familiar positions that leave you longing for the more relaxed vibe of Shelton's earlier films. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerOct 24, 2014
Laggies itself isn’t exactly slow – its pace is pleasantly meandering – and it’s far from aimless, although what it’s aiming for isn’t always clear. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Oct 23, 2014
Shelton, who used to make scrappy, wholly improvised indie gabfests, continues to sand down the rough edges of her style, so that each new movie feels a little less distinct — and a lot less transgressive — than the one before it. Read full review
58
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJan 27, 2014
Its patchy tone, plot, characters and sympathies make for a film that’s difficult to wholeheartedly endorse. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonNov 6, 2014
Laggies is the kind of indie film that gives the genre a bad name. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 6, 2014
The best of Laggies, both in the writing and the playing, comes in the square-offs between Knightley and Rockwell. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonOct 24, 2014
I cop to not being a fan of Lynn Shelton’s work. Her films fall apart in their third acts. Rather than simply crumble as they have in her prior work, the third act of Laggies implodes in grand fashion, spewing contrivances, bad clichés and an ending that is simply unforgivable. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyOct 16, 2014
The movie’s compromised tone, wavering between emo introspection and rom-com cuteness, is awkward in all the wrong ways. Read full review
40
The DissolveNoel MurrayOct 22, 2014
As Laggies piles up one scene after another of Megan’s boyfriend and all her old high-school chums acting exaggeratedly square, the movie’s comic point of view becomes overpoweringly sour and predictable. Read full review
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