Life Partners
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: December 5, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
4
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerDec 3, 2014
If this all sounds more than a little familiar, it’s probably because similar material about young-ish women growing up and maybe apart has been staged recently and on a variety of scales, from the scrappy intimacy of "Frances Ha" to the broader comedy of "Bridesmaids." Life Partners isn’t as ebullient as the former or laugh-out-loud funny as the latter, but it maintains a sharp specificity about both of its lead characters’ lives. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanDec 12, 2014
Life Partners may be a dispensable sitcom of a movie, but it's charming and cannily made. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigDec 4, 2014
Partners is exceedingly well-cast and well-acted, bringing a lightly satirical and witty script to life. Meester and Jacobs have a disarming chemistry, and their conversation is filled with a comfortable shorthand. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartDec 3, 2014
Fogel’s focus is female friendship, and the challenges presented by growing older and pairing up. It all makes for a rocky road, regardless of the romantic rival’s gender. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineAbhimanyu DasOct 9, 2014
The romantic elements are secondary to what is essentially an astute and cleverly written dissection of a co-dependent friendship being gradually eroded by the incremental ravages of age, rivalry, and rapidly diverging personal arcs. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckDec 3, 2014
Life Partners boasts a sweetly relaxed vibe that makes it go down easily thanks to the witty screenplay by Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz and the highly appealing performances by Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) and Gillian Jacobs (Community). Read full review
70
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonDec 2, 2014
Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz's script captures the girls' relationship in fine detail. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie ScheibOct 9, 2014
The movie belongs to thesps Jacobs and Meester. Jacobs fully inhabits her less-than-completely-sympathetic role with warmth and just the right touch of unconscious entitlement, while Meester luminously expands the film’s affective core. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoDec 5, 2014
The moments of believability in the surprisingly entertaining Life Partners have greater resonance. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid EhrlichDec 3, 2014
Sweet but unambitious comedy. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshDec 4, 2014
Meester and Jacobs have an easy, authentic chemistry, but there isn't enough structure or storytelling thrust to sustain interest in the plot: Triumphs, calamities and reunions keep happening, but none contains real dramatic heft. Read full review
50
The DissolveScott TobiasNov 10, 2014
Fogel and Lefkowitz go for a loose, funny vibe that allows them the freedom to serve a range of different characters and subplots, but the center of their movie doesn’t hold. Read full review
40
TheWrapInkoo KangDec 2, 2014
A waxen falseness suffuses the stilted, stubbornly generic picture, from the casting to the humor to the lesbian-friendly milieu. Like the fast-food mozzarella sticks one of the characters devours in moments of existential woe, it feels like a calculated imitation rather than the real thing. Read full review
38
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreDec 2, 2014
A slight and somewhat demure romantic comedy/friendship comedy built around two mildly interesting characters. Read full review
25
The PlaylistGabe ToroOct 9, 2014
It's the sort of film where music montages are used like wallpaper to take narrative shortcuts and minimize messy conflict. Read full review
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