Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
IFC Films | Release Date: June 8, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
14
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ObserverRex ReedJun 13, 2012
Pop songs, beautiful bucolic scenery and the joy of watching Jane Fonda fizz in a fun role that looks like a no-brainer are elements that a skilled director like Australia's polished Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) blends with perfection. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJun 6, 2012
An undemanding formula picture that's a lot of superficial fun and not much more. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJun 7, 2012
It's not "On Golden Pond" by any stretch, but it is nice to have Fonda back in the fractious family way. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeJun 4, 2012
May not be great cinema, but its broad, crowdpleasing qualities should make it a welcome night out for femmes. Read full review
63
New York PostLou LumenickJun 7, 2012
A crowd-pleasing comedy that isn't going to win any awards for originality. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyJun 7, 2012
A touchy daughter and her feely mom form the emotional axis of Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding, a touching, feeling, touchy-feely series of emotional encounters that generate much warmth in Bruce Beresford's balloon-light family comedy. If it were any lighter, it would float away. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJun 7, 2012
Peace, Love and Misunderstanding has a place for everybody in its heart-of-gold band. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttJun 4, 2012
The saving grace to the utter predictability in Christina Mengert and Joseph Muszynski's screenplay is reasonably personable characters and spirited acting by director Bruce Beresford's cast. Read full review
55
MovielineStephanie ZacharekJun 7, 2012
None of it quite works, but it seems Beresford did his damnedest to try to pull it off. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJun 8, 2012
There's a great movie to be made about the survivors of Woodstock Nation and their children. But in order to make that movie, you first have to respect the ideals of that generation enough to at least give them their due. Read full review
50
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoJun 8, 2012
It's a great (if middle-of-the-road) family comedy to seek out. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJun 7, 2012
It also comes as little surprise that she (Fonda) knocks the part out of the park, even if the film around her leaves something to be desired. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJun 7, 2012
Stylistically a formulaic, middle-drawer television movie about intergenerational strife and forgiveness. Every plot turn is groaningly predictable. But at least the lead performances set off sparks. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 7, 2012
Keener alone finds the truth between the lines of this routine affair. She can't do much about the lines she has to say out loud, but as all first-rate screen performers realize, words are only part of the story. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie OgleJun 7, 2012
The script is so pre-determined it seems generated by a computer program, not human beings. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubAlison WillmoreJun 6, 2012
Olsen, so good in "Martha Marcy May Marlene," is stuck playing a judgmental scold, while Wolff waves a video camera around and insists he wants to be Werner Herzog. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerJun 4, 2012
What saves the film from being simply a schematic mother-daughter reconciliation drama is both the reluctance and prickliness that Catherine Keener brings to her character. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 7, 2012
The only rewards, and they are real albeit insufficient, involve watching Jane Fonda in full cry and Catherine Keener in a quieter fullness of feeling. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearJun 5, 2012
Only the mighty Fonda cuts through the claptrap; the rest is just a long, predictable trip. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonJun 5, 2012
An incompetently structured film that pits hippies against squares with the usual wearying results. Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 8, 2012
It's like "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the Catskills. Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumJun 6, 2012
So let's hear it for the giant wig of Pre-Raphaelite gray corkscrews planted on the noggin of Jane Fonda as a glamorous hippie grandma. The hairdo meets its match in the dull Ann Taylor togs encasing Catherine Keener: That's how you know Granny's daughter is an uptight lawyer. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesJun 7, 2012
How long do you have to be gone to make a triumphant return to the screen, and how triumphant can your return be when all three movies are duds? Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliJun 8, 2012
The fact that Grandma is played by Jane Fonda, flouncing around in natural fabrics, should tell you something. It should tell you there is no casting decision or character nuance or plot turn too obvious to indulge. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 7, 2012
Me, I'm a Johnny Rotten man, so this limp culture-clash comedy with a heart of patchouli just made me want to stab my eyeballs out. Read full review
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