Uncle Frank
Amazon Studios | Release Date (Streaming): November 25, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 27, 2020
The movie rarely takes the easy way out of a scene, and the observational details can be rich. Read full review
80
Film ThreatLorry KiktaJan 27, 2020
There are some intense, heartbreaking moments in this film, but I am glad to say that the ending is not as sad as it could have been. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 25, 2020
When the material in Uncle Frank wades into soapy, melodramatic waters, the performances are pure and powerful. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonNov 25, 2020
Uncle Frank feels like a memoir, and also feels extraordinarily true, and fresh, thanks to the untrammeled terrain it visits, at least in New York. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 24, 2020
Bettany is outstanding. He infuses Frank with just the right amount of inner turmoil and confusion as he tries to balance his love for his family with the wounds they have inflicted upon him — and as he tries to come to terms with his own identity among them. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis HarveyJan 27, 2020
Uncle Frank recalls plenty of prior coming-out (and coming-of-age) sagas, but revisits their familiar terrain with a confident and skilled mix of humor and character-dynamic shorthand. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerNov 27, 2020
Uncle Frank revolves around Uncle Frank, and Bettany's career-great performance as a man who knows where the gaps are in his life, and how much his whole relationship with his family is about holding his breath. Read full review
67
The Film StageDan MeccaJan 27, 2020
For the first half of the picture, Bettany’s soft, contemplative performance investigates Frank’s self-hatred with such beauty that the re-introduction of the rest of the family feels like a detriment, despite the talent of the cast. Read full review
63
ObserverOliver JonesNov 27, 2020
Too queer for some, not nearly queer enough for others, Uncle Frank is fated to become the green bean casserole of this holiday’s film streaming options: designed to appeal to everyone, but destined to remain uneaten. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 30, 2020
Uncle Frank doesn’t have the witty indirectness of American Beauty or Ball’s TV classic Six Feet Under, but it has a strong and very convincing performance from Bettany. Read full review
60
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeNov 25, 2020
Those moments that land, whether funny or moving, occur when Ball isn’t getting in his own way and instead trusts in the characters he’s written and the actors who are performing them. Overall, the film works, but there are times during this road-trip saga where one wishes Ball would apply the brakes. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergNov 25, 2020
In Uncle Frank, the writer-director Alan Ball (“True Blood”) combines several overworked genres — the coming-of-age picture, the road-trip odyssey, the angst-filled family-reunion movie — and mostly steers clear of the obvious pitfalls. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinNov 25, 2020
A finely acted, often deeply emotional period piece that, despite its share of strong moments, stacks the deck too much for its own dramatic good. Read full review
60
EmpireBen TravisNov 24, 2020
Its mix of coming-of-age and homecoming stories doesn’t fully gel, but Uncle Frank is a funny and entertaining road movie with likeable performances – just brace for a closing dollop of sentimentality. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanJan 27, 2020
It is a frustrating filmgoing experience, but still one worthy of your time for the acting alone. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonNov 27, 2020
Uncle Frank commits the unforgivable sin of giving us one evil character whose demise suddenly unleashes a wave of understanding amongst family members who were, until this point, perfectly happy to enforce the harmful status quo that traumatized one of their own. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubAllison ShoemakerNov 24, 2020
Uncle Frank anchors itself to the war within Frank, but it’s the conflict within the film itself that’s most potent. That’s a fight no one wins, least of all the audience. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneNov 23, 2020
When the distance between uncle and niece shortens, Uncle Frank ceases to be a tender portrait of outsider kinship and transforms into a histrionic road movie with screwball intentions. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 27, 2020
It’s not simply that Uncle Frank becomes just another road-trip comedy — it’s that Ball resorts to clichéd or contrived narrative devices to keep the story going. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 27, 2020
While there are a few truly moving detours along the way . . . Uncle Frank fumbles through its fairy-tale finale so fast that it sours everything that came before. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinJan 27, 2020
Although clearly made with earnest good intentions, this shabbily constructed work feels way too thirsty for audience love as it strings together a series of life-affirming, message-laden and sometimes embarrassingly anachronistic moments that feel too unconnected to satisfy as a drama. Read full review
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