The Brothers
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Release Date: March 23, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
12
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Passionate and saucy comedy. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A politically incorrect but often hilarious jam session, in which men and women trade insults like musical licks. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie's a mixed bag, but worth seeing for the good stuff, which is a lesson in how productive it can be to allow characters to say what they might actually say. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
The pace is fast, many of the performers are attractive, and even the end-credits montage is zippier than usual. Read full review
70
Washington PostRita Kempley
A lively, affectionate and well-acted romantic comedy, takes a raunchy look at relationships from the black male perspective. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A feeling man's buddy story that's user-friendly to men and women alike.
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
What saves the film is the charm and earthy humor the actors wring from the spectacle of these four guys getting an early jump on their midlife crises.
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Overall, The Brothers is glossy fun, but it should have given us more ideas and energy.
60
Film.comRobert Horton
Hughley and Jones have an explosively comic chemistry together; her kooky, open-faced looks are a counterpoint to his whipcrack improvisations. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Darts nervously between soap opera and sitcom, rarely blending them in a way that lets the two genres enhance each other. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Basically a Lifetime movie that somehow found its way into theaters.
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The cast is strong and work together flawlessly, and romantic comedies that take an unabashedly male perspective without being relentlessly vulgar or misogynistic are rare indeed. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A prime reason to see this, if you don't mind some really screechy acting by some of the supporting players and insipid metaphors for love and commitment, is its parade of fine flesh, both male and female. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJan Stuart
While all of the actors are excellent, we sat up whenever Gabrielle Union walked on screen. As the ever-sensible woman who disrupts Jackson's bachelorhood, she projects the pluck, gravitas and beauty of a younger Alfre Woodard. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWesley Morris
Less like watching a movie than it is like being accosted by one. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The psychological and psychoanalytical probes into sexual and emotional problems keep this reasonably lively. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's an admirable, if clunky, attempt, and though it never quite jels in the way that, say, "Waiting to Exhale" did, it's good to know someone's making the effort to portray black urban males as something other than criminals or crime-fighters. Read full review
50
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
No matter how quotable the one-liners, the movie remains a far stretch from truth or insight.
40
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
The movie is perhaps most successful as a preview of greater things to come from both Hughley and Union. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
If it registers at all, it'll likely be more because of the fuckability of Morris Chestnut -- a star waiting for a worthy film -- than any insights or memorable moments from the movie itself. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
As each male-female relationship works itself out in ways either contrived or predictable, here's betting you wind up more disappointed than enlightened.
30
Village VoiceJessica Winter
An epidemic of solipsism breaks out among four lifelong African American friends when one of them announces his impending nuptials. Cringe-inducing slapstick jockeys for screen time with undermotivated high-volume confrontation. Read full review
30
VarietyDennis Harvey
Pic's complete lack of cinematic verve, along with bland tech work, do much to drain the juice out of what should have been a fierce, fun battle of the sexes. Read full review
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