Something's Gotta Give
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Release Date: December 12, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The moments between the characters are absolutely full. It's a pleasure to watch such consummate professionals. Read full review
88
USA TodayStaff [Not Credited]
But let's not mislead about acting gold: Without Nicholson and Keaton, the movie would be fair. With them, it's one of the few good romantic comedies this year. What we gotta give is thanks. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
[Keaton and Nicholson] bring so much experience, knowledge and humor to their characters that the film works in ways the screenplay might not have even hoped for. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Every moment spent in the company of Keaton... is such a joy that the whole is more delightful than the sum of the formulaic ingredients. Keaton makes Nicholson bounce the way Shirley MacLaine once did in ''Terms of Endearment.'' Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Its script is sharp, its dialogue is acerbic, its stars could hardly be better and, in its more sparkling moments, it exudes some of the flavor and charm of the later Hepburn-Tracy comedies. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Diane Keaton has the crucial role, and she makes the most of it.
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Generally quite amusing, with a brilliant cast. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Nobody else working in movies today can make her (Keaton) own misery such a source of delight or make the spectacle of utter embarrassment look like a higher form of dignity. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
In an era of dumb farce, Something's Gotta Give is something special. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Movies like this are meant to amuse and entertain, though, not instruct. Meyers's latest is worth seeing for its offbeat story, its tantalizing settings, and most of all, its spot-on acting, especially by Keaton and Nicholson. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Doesn't always sizzle, but its stars do. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's wise, funny, honest right up to its last sadly dishonest scene, doesn't mock us more than we deserve and offers attractive women in various stages of undress. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
With the likes of Nicholson, Keaton, Reeves and Peet -- and a fleeting, funny few minutes with McDormand -- Something's Gotta Give is never less than entertaining. And once in a while it's sweetly, and extremely, funny. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton are so good in Something's Gotta Give, it's a shame writer-director Nancy Meyers couldn't rein herself in a little more. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
I love Nicholson here because he lets Keaton take the movie--and his relative reticence is very attractive. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Mostly, it's just a pleasure to watch Keaton and Nicholson learning new steps in an old dance, stumbling to grab at happiness before it's too late. Read full review
70
Film Threat
A sweet and fresh comedy that was a joy to watch. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
In the end I didn't believe in their relationship, but I was pleased to see Keaton tearing it up for two hours. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The film also does something quite remarkable for an American film: It makes middle-age love look sexy and hugely satisfying. Read full review
70
VarietyScott Foundas
Jokes about impotence, menopause and other middle-aged maladies reside where a screenplay ought to live. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The movie, which ricochets between farce and poignancy, casts just enough romantic pixie dust to leave you smiling. It's certainly not the last word on the subject, but it's an amiable start. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Stumbles in miscalculating how far it needs to go to make this particular romance convincing when, as another romantic comedy character put it, it had us from hello. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It is a well written, nicely acted and smoothly directed battle of the sexes. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
As cinema, it's polenta, but it's made palatable by the piquant sauce with which these two great stars season it. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
[Keaton's] lost none of the spunk, sass, and ditzbomb charm of her "Annie Hall" days. She, quite simply, is marvelous. Too bad her similarly iconic co-star is such a toad. Jack never stops being Jack, to great distraction. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's a glossy, somewhat condescending comedy, with all the substance of a cone of soft vanilla ice cream. Read full review
63
PremiereSara Brady
Frances McDormand, as Erica’s younger sister, flourishes in her few minutes of screen time. She’s flinty, ferocious, and purely hysterical. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Doesn't America's 50-and-fabulous set deserve better than a movie this superficial and pandering? Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Despite the weak dialogue, there are still some laughs to be had. At the end of this long journey, we're rooting for Harry and Erica to be together. For the movie to get us to that point, regardless of its motives and methods, it can't be all bad. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Keaton pulling this off. Read full review
63
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Keaton's overamped girlishness, and the adolescent shenanigans she engages in, make a mockery of this overlong romantic comedy's stance as a celebration of mature love. Read full review
60
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Harmless, but it gave me a pain. Why make such a fuss over middle-aged bodies anyway? [22 & 29 December 2003, p. 166]
60
EmpireAlan Morrison
It also takes too long in the final act to write itself out of its plot entanglements, and ends up looking rather too pleased with itself. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Even in a piffle like Something’s Gotta Give, Keaton reminds us of her uncanny ability to inhabit her characters' knockabout emotions. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
As a date-night movie for women of 50 or thereabouts, chances are it'll do the trick. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Jack, the actor, smiles obligingly, but you can practically feel him rolling his eyes. Read full review
50
SalonCharles Taylor
Irritatingly moralistic romantic comedy. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
If the lines in the script were as keenly etched as the ones in her face, Keaton would have had something to work with. Instead, during an especially lovelorn sequence, she's asked to indulge in a crying montage so painfully extended that it has us in tears too -- weeping from embarrassment for her. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineEthan Alter
A whiz at crafting conventional Hollywood screenplays, Meyers's direction is overreliant on close-ups and medium shots; there's no life to any of the images. Still, the film coasts along smoothly on the charisma of its stars. Read full review
30
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Something does have to give, and that's the nine-figure public patronage of this kind of anemic, wit-free entertainment. Meyers's shakin' moneymaker isn't the worst film of 2003 -- no cat suits, for one thing -- but something scarier: a standard-issue bog of glossy idiocy and audience disrespect. Read full review
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