Lucky Break
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: April 5, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
11
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Apart from the deja vu all over again, Lucky Break is no worse a film than "Breaking Out," and "Breaking Out" was utterly charming. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A minor comedy, though a major delight.
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There is not much here that comes as a blinding plot revelation, but the movie has a raffish charm and good-hearted characters, and like "The Full Monty" it makes good use of the desperation beneath the comedy. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRon Wells
Overall, it's good, not great. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
It's what the Brits themselves might call fair to middling. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderHank Sartin
Cattaneo proceeds gamely, though without much spark, through this familiar fare, but at least Nesbitt, with his sly, oddball charm, is fun to watch. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
Isn't quite funny enough to make it as a comedy, or touching enough to make it as a romance. It's a pleasant effort that doesn't hit any of its targets. Read full review
60
Village VoiceEd Park
Mike Leigh mainstay Timothy Spall deftly shades in the designated goner, fellow "Still Crazy" alum Bill Nighy is sweetly wispy as the capable fop, and anger-management counselor Olivia Williams trembles pleasantly as usual. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Lightly reflective and consistently entertaining, Lucky Break is an easy-to-take diversion. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The big musical setpiece, rife with possibilities for humor and uplift, needed to be funnier and more energetic than the half-hearted lyrics and choreography bother to muster. Read full review
50
New Times (L.A.)Andy Klein
This is mostly well-constructed fluff, which is all it seems intended to be.
50
Boston GlobeLoren King
The movie moves predictably to its formulaic finale, which -- unwittingly perhaps -- reprises Plummer's own sugary classic, ''The Sound of Music.'' Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Pleasing but routine British comedy. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Without the surprise, realism, audacity and upstart cheekiness -- pun intended -- that made "The Full Monty's" blue-collar strippers so irresistible.
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Pleasant and has not a few laughs. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneLoren King
The movie moves predictably to its feel-good finale. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Neither the appealing cast nor the bouncing, ska-inflected soundtrack can keep the party going. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
The end result is like cold porridge with only the odd enjoyably chewy lump. Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Every porridgy inmate in this instantly forgettable romp warbles in the prison's amateur musical, and one of them demonstrates a rather extreme devotion to the tomatoes he grows in the on-site greenhouse. Read full review
30
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Perfectly inoffensive and harmless, but it's also drab and inert. Read full review
30
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Mr. Cattaneo restricts himself to the smiling blandness that has become the stock in trade of British comedies made for export, turning in a film that is forced, familiar and thoroughly condescending. Read full review
30
VarietyDerek Elley
Chained to the floor by a script that isn't particularly funny, direction that goes for realism rather than stylization and an almost complete lack of comic timing. Read full review
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