Phyllis and Harold
Release Date: February 19, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Twelve years in the making, Phyllis and Harold has extraordinary breadth and depth and has been made with wit, compassion and imagination, and it reflects the complexity of life itself. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Phyllis and Harold is really about Phyllis and how discontent has a way of spilling, then spreading. Kleine never quite says so, but her mother’s life was a tragedy. Read full review
60
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Evocatively fleshed out with surprisingly iconic homemovies, passionate love letters and well-chosen pop tunes, Kleine's homegrown Jewish "Madame Bovary" escapes the navel-gazing boundaries of the personal-diary docu by the sheer force of its evocation of bygone sensuality. Read full review
60
Time OutS. James Snyder
Kleine forgoes good-old-days nostalgia in an effort to examine a generation that braved the new America sans a rule book. But it’s the central mystery of Cindy’s own life--did Phyllis ever love Harold?--that turns this sociological examination into something profoundly personal. Read full review
50
Village VoiceElla Taylor
What's interesting about the filmmaker's rummage through her parents' conjugal closet--another in a thriving sub-genre of domestic-turmoil docs as told by their spawn--is the abyss between the husband and wife's points of view. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDoris Toumarkine
Fortunately, Lisa Crafts' colorful animation intermittently brings welcome charm and life to this otherwise dreary tale. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
The problem with these my-family-was-messed-up-and-I need-to-share projects is that they require an audience of complete strangers to give a damn. And while we sometimes do, it’s usually because the material is inherently compelling (“Tarnation”) or the filmmaking uncovers truths beyond the template of family therapy (“51 Birch Street”). Sadly, Phyllis and Harold fulfills neither requirement. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Engrossing, sad and heartbreaking. Read full review
25
New York PostV.A. Musetto
My only question: Why does Kleine -- who's married to Andre Gregory of "My Dinner With Andre" fame -- think that anybody outside her family gives a damn? Read full review
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