The Baxter
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: August 26, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
13
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
No great shakes, The Baxter nonetheless has a quiet loopiness going for it. And it has the absence of a laugh track going for it, too. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The Baxter is just an OK movie, but Showalter's performance is the gem to take from it. Read full review
70
Village VoiceEd Park
A sign of The Baxter's charm is that it's essentially spoiler-proof: We know from the get-go which couples will pair off, and the pleasures lie in the spring-stepped vibe, the natty throwback wardrobe, and the intricate goofball patter. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The performers are fresh and offbeat, with the diminutive Peter Dinklage (Elf, The Station Agent) especially funny as a gay wedding planner named Benson Hedges. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Modest and polite. That's not a ringing endorsement of Michael Showalter's good-natured comedy, but there are enough laughs in it if you're willing to settle. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
A self-consciously arch work of hipsterism that's more styled than funny. Read full review
60
The New York TimesLawrence Van Gelder
In the end, The Baxter is a Baxter of a movie: well meaning and mildly likable, but unlikely to sweep you off your feet. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This wry, low-key comedy, crafted by members of the sketch-comedy group The State, swims defiantly against the stream of contemporary comedy, eschewing bodily-function jokes and obvious gags in favor of laughs so sly and self-effacing you could almost overlook them. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
A tender love story and a dead-on lampoon of the genre, but its main drawback is that Showalter is egregiously miscast in the title role. Read full review
50
VarietyJohn Anderson
May find a following among those who stand in awe of the names Sandler, Ferrell and Spade. But Showalter pushes too far: Nerdiness, after all, can be only so attractive. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
That's ultimately the film's fatal flaw: it bumps Showalter's Baxter up to the role of the romantic lead without giving him an equivalent increase in complexity or depth. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
"The Station Agent's" Peter Dinklage provides diversion as a gay wedding planner. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A wheel-spinner. The more the film stresses and strains to be funny, the unfunnier it gets. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyTim Grierson
A movie filled with cardboard cutouts where the interesting characters ought to be. As a result, The Baxter is less engaging than the '40s screwball comedies (like The Philadelphia Story) that it's supposedly sending up, and not nearly as effervescent. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
Michael Showalter is a funny man, but … how to put this gently … not a funny movie star. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The problem with The Baxter is right there at the center of the movie, and maybe it is unavoidable: Showalter makes too good of a baxter. He deserves to be dumped. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
There's no comic spark under Showalter's drab direction, and no good argument in the film why we should ever wonder about the guy left at the altar. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
The film never recovers its initial fizzy-pop charms, owing largely to pacing that turns positively molasses-slow in the second act. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
With The Baxter, Showalter's begging his way into the ranks of the safe and the mediocre. Read full review
38
PremierePeter Debruge
As coincidence would have it, Steve Carell's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" spun comedy gold from a similar idea just last week. Virgin shares not only The Baxter's basic premise, but also two of its key cast members (Paul Rudd and the beautiful Ms. Banks), allowing audiences to see just how much better The Baxter might have been if Showalter had given us some reason to identify with his socially awkward protagonist. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle Smith
A zero-joke romantic comedy. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The Baxter is so ineptly conceived, staged, written and played that you suspect it's part of a psychology experiment to see if people will laugh at anything. Read full review
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