Only Human
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: June 16, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Cheery, expertly constructed Spanish farce. Read full review
80
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
As directors, Harari and De Pelegri have just the right light-fingered glissando touch. Not a moment sags. Their cast relishes and fulfills the tempo. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Winningly human, and wonderfully funny.
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
There's nothing subtle about Pelegri and Harari's culture-clash romp, but it's sometimes frantically funny; that it's thoroughly forgettable is an issue only if you expect it to do more than poke easy fun at the thorny issues it raises. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Moves along briskly, with several laugh-out-loud moments. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The slapstick gets a little too silly, and a rushed ending feels unsatisfying. But everyone whose family boasts an excess of opinions will relate. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
A dinner-from-hell comedy about a pretty Jewish Spaniard who brings a nice Palestinian guy home to her outspoken Madrid family. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
The film's snappy action and frank sexuality are reminiscent of "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," while the mordant humor and conflicting identities are vintage Allen. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
There's a manic quality to the film that may wear you down. But at least you won't be bored. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJim Ridley
Intermittently hilarious. Read full review
70
The New York TimesLaura Kern
A vigorously paced modern screwball comedy written and directed by the husband-and-wife team Dominic Harari and Teresa De Pelegrí, explores family values, and Leni and Rafi's mismatched cultural backgrounds, with a refreshingly light touch. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A movie that is never elegant but is often hysterically funny, and maintains a rabbit-on-speed pace that Hollywood comedy long ago abandoned. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyJim Ridley
A Spanish dinner-theater comedy, this intermittently hilarious contraption by the husband-wife team of Dominic Harari and Teresa de Pelegri heaves Jewish-Palestinian conflict onto a prop-room table already groaning with loaded guns, impromptu sex toys, a wounded duck paddling in a bidet, and a brick of frozen soup that doubles as a sandbag for unlucky pedestrians below. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
Mines the comic possibilities of the classic setup of introducing the fiancé to the family, with results that are playful, charming and surprisingly thoughtful. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Only Human, a Spanish farce, has absolutely no business being as laugh-out-loud funny as it often is. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Despite a strong start, Only Human loses its grip on all that merry energy and comes to feel more like a sitcom than like "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" or "Some Like It Hot," to name just some of its forebears. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Don't expect a meaningful resolution, just a bouncy comedy with some hilarious moments in the stray ricochets. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Unfortunately, the film is also at times dull, though the scale definitely tilts toward enjoyment. Quality balance aside, who doesn't want to enjoy a few hearty laughs? Only Human provides a few of those. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJoshua Katzman
Toledo is very funny, and there are some hilarious comic bits, but writer-directors Dominic Harari and Teresa Pelegri drag in several distracting subplots, turning this 2004 Spanish comedy into a scattershot affair. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
For a film that pads out such broad slapstick with toilet humor, obnoxious-child antics, and even cute-animal business, Only Human is surprisingly enjoyable, thanks to the filmmakers' relatively low-key, Pedro Almodóvar-style approach. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Attempts to achieve a Pedro Almodovar-level of humor without much success... Degenerating into witless slapstick. Read full review
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