On the Outs
Kindred Media Group | Release Date: July 13, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
On the Outs parses the hopes and terrors of blasted lives with an empathy that never cheapens into pity. The movie wounds as much as it heals, and that's its true power. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
A gritty, well-acted, documentary-style drama. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
What makes the film feel genuine, however, are the performances. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The excellent performances by the three leads, and the filmmakers' refusal to sugarcoat reality, elevate the film far beyond after-school special territory into something far more lasting. Read full review
70
VarietyJoe Leydon
Skillfully entwines stories of three young women drifting in and out of a Jersey City juvenile detention center. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Certainly not the first film to show how a crushing urban environment can make a sensible-sounding antidrug slogan like "just say no" seem like so much nonsense, but it's one of the strongest. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Powerful, documentary-style drama draws on the real-life experiences of "at risk" teenage girls. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A scared-straight after-school special, but actually good. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJan Stuart
Bracing and remarkably compact drama, which invests some standard movie tropes of rough-and-tumble urban life with deep feeling and urgency. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A compelling albeit highly discouraging portrait. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
It's all too easy to dismiss the characters' troubles as entirely of their own making. But the cast's fearless, evocative performances help a great deal. Read full review
60
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Most importantly, the environment feels real: the accents, the snaps, the working moms and warehouse crack nooks, every dilapidated stairwell, every bodega and lovingly appointed teenage bedroom sanctuary. Read full review
60
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
On the Outs has its rewards, especially in the mesmerizing performance of Marte. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
Well-meaning but mediocre. Read full review
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