The Meddler
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 22, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzApr 21, 2016
A diminutive and misleading title for such an affecting, often profound film. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldMay 19, 2016
These characters don’t seem like types chosen from a screenwriting manual but like people we might know, with quirks and feelings and flaws and hearts. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 28, 2016
Writer-director Lorene Scafaria takes a sitcom of a premise and imbues it with depth, intelligence and numerous sweet, melancholy moments that feel just … right. Read full review
88
ObserverRex ReedApr 21, 2016
Charming, insightful and funny, The Meddler takes familiar material (the mother from Hell and the daughter from Hunger) and infuses it with affectionate, slap-your-thigh humor. It also crowns Susan Sarandon with one of her most endearingly irresistible roles in years. Read full review
83
IndieWireKate ErblandApr 21, 2016
The charm of The Meddler isn't the kind that benefits from big pushes forward in narrative or massive plot movements, but it revels in heart-warming humor, vibrant characters and what's clearly a deep affection for its story. Read full review
80
CineVueLucy PopescuJun 23, 2016
Scafaria is writing from personal experience and it shows in some of the understated but utterly credible scenes which illuminate the grieving process. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaApr 28, 2016
The Meddler is one of those movies that surprises you by being something it’s not. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Apr 21, 2016
It is sweet, and funny and quietly upbeat. Take a chance on it — and take your mom. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid EhrlichMar 6, 2016
With a plot that plays like a string of incidental encounters, The Meddler could easily have felt like a glorified sitcom. But its heroine’s grief, her goodness and her complicated relationship with her daughter all feel so lived-in and true that the film stays grounded. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanMay 19, 2016
Scafaria doesn’t solve everyone’s problems or end with a miraculous change of mind or heart. She writes credible situations...and characters in whom we can believe. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMay 12, 2016
Much like its main character, The Meddler exudes an irresistible charm. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie OgleMay 12, 2016
Scafaria — who wrote and directed "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" and co-wrote "Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist" — elevates the material with a terrific eye for detail, an understanding of the complexities of mother-daughter relationships and a generous sense of humor. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMay 6, 2016
With Sarandon in the title role, Scafaria has a winner: The actress tackles Marnie headlong, with heart and soul, trolling the fancy outdoor shopping mall for products to buy and for people to intercept and hang on to. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerMay 5, 2016
It’s a sitcom-y, Sarandon-wrapped Mother’s Day valentine. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 5, 2016
The smooth, cozy charm of writer-director Lorene Scafaria's "The Meddler" offers considerable seriocomic satisfaction. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 28, 2016
Writer-director Lorene Scafaria based the movie on her own mother, and the clothes that Sarandon wears in the film actually belong to Scafaria’s mother. They fit Sarandon well, and so does the role. Read full review
75
ConsequenceRebecca BulnesApr 28, 2016
The Meddler is a delightful film with an emotional honesty that can be traced back to the real-life mother of writer/director Lorene Scafaria. Perhaps if Scafaria trusted the strength of that truth an inch or two more, it would be enough to avoid distractions along the way. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickApr 21, 2016
Sarandon gets great support from a cast that includes J.K. Simmons as a laid-back retired cop who pursues Minnie, and Jason Ritter as the ex-boyfriend whom Minnie desperately plots to reunite with her daughter. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 21, 2016
The Meddler belongs to Sarandon, a famously no-bull actress who digs in deep, showing us how moms aren't one thing, they're all things. How else can they make you laugh from love and cry from crazy? The Meddler knows how. Listen up. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerApr 20, 2016
Here Scafaria makes nice use of her widescreen frame, and cuts the movie together crisply—a lot of the jokes actually come from the cuts, and the way they punctuate the often pitch-perfect dialogue. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattApr 20, 2016
Her character, reportedly based on writer-director Lorene Scafaria’s own mother, isn’t drawn with any particular depth or nuance (and the broad New Yawk accent Sarandon tries on is about as authentically Brooklyn as a Sara Lee bagel). Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 21, 2016
Affable, earnest and humanly scaled, The Meddler is the kind of entertainment that the studios used to supply by the boatload and that now tends to show up on the small screen. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 21, 2016
The Meddler offers a charming, authentic and well-observed mix of comedy and poignancy. Read full review
70
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganMar 6, 2016
Apart from being a series of comic vignettes, The Meddler is also framed partially as a romance, and a very endearing one at that. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 6, 2016
With no car chases or artificial villains to get in the way, and no treacly contrivances to force unearned emotions, the bright, vaguely sitcom-styled movie is free to make audiences feel good on its own genuine terms. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisMay 11, 2016
In a film that otherwise prides itself on the subtlety of its anecdotal narrative and character development, the diagnosis is jolting, and about as welcome as some of the unsought counsel that streams from Marnie’s mouth. Read full review
67
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthMar 6, 2016
While slight, the film’s genuine feeling and overall comedic consistency has enough breezy charm to make it go down easy and pleasurably. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 10, 2016
The Meddler is a film of cute moments and the odd touching scene, which serve to interrupt the steady cavalcade of cliches. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 28, 2016
The Meddler is a movie of modest charms. Read full review
60
The TelegraphPatrick SmithJun 28, 2016
Arriving under the radar, The Meddler is a surprise treat. Go see it with your mother. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeMar 6, 2016
The ultimate reason why so much of this works is down to Sarandon herself. She sells the comic side as well as hitting all of the emotional beats. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschMar 6, 2016
For all its relatability, the movie is safe and sitcomishly amusing rather than sharply funny, hitting the same genial notes over and over instead of building real comic momentum. Read full review
55
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeApr 22, 2016
Everyone’s so damn happy and grateful to have been meddled with that it undercuts both the comedy and the drama in this film from writer-director Lorene Scafaria. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMay 5, 2016
The Meddler is a disappointment after the talent Scafaria demonstrated in her 2012 feature debut “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.” Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 21, 2016
Susan Sarandon is Marnie Minervini, a recent widow and the meddlesome mother of The Meddler. Marnie is an Italian iteration of Molly Goldberg minus the charm. She might be charming if there were a full-fledged movie around her instead of a display case —Ms. Sarandon is, of course, a deft comedian. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianApr 19, 2016
Writer-director Lorene Scafaria's film is an unconvincing character study that plays like a painfully unfunny sitcom. Read full review
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