Why Him?
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: December 23, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
12
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Total FilmJames MottramJan 11, 2017
It’s a smart gen-gap tale with loveable characters. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanDec 12, 2016
It’s bluntly cheeky, it goes on for too long, but the concept keeps on giving. Read full review
67
The Film StageEric D. SniderDec 23, 2016
Overall, the laughs are scattershot, but the tone is good-natured, and the humor isn’t cruel. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisDec 22, 2016
Luckily for Franco, Cranston makes for the perfect comic foil in Why Him?. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 20, 2016
Yes, it's Meet the Parents time again but flipped and filthier, in a good way. Why Him? had me laughing louder, more often than most smutcoms do, a NSFW blusher delivered by a keenly comical cast. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerDec 23, 2016
Franco’s outlandish Laird dude is fascinatingly unfiltered, either when it comes to his non-stop F-bombs or his love-seeking shenanigans. It’s all a bit rompy, with a touch of the-world-is-a-changin’ commentary. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniDec 22, 2016
An enjoyable (but long) romcom that's like "Meet the Parents" on LSD, laced with rat poison. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTom RussoDec 21, 2016
A James Franco-Bryan Cranston teaming that’s not as wild as intended, but reasonably diverting just the same. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaDec 13, 2016
The film is surprisingly amiable, thanks to the commitment of its lead actors and its refusal to condescend to its characters. Read full review
58
The PlaylistWill AshtonDec 12, 2016
Lacking real zest or fun, it’s a middling effort, if one with ample heart and good intentions, that happens to star two actors who can rise to the occasion when necessary. Working together, it’s a shame that they serve both as this frustratingly mediocre comedy’s most reliable pleasure and most consistent disappointment. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichDec 12, 2016
The hit rate gets better as the film lumbers along and the scenarios grow more extreme, but it takes a certain degree of perseverance to roll with this thing until it pays off. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 26, 2016
For a while, the movie looks like it’s going to go dark but then chickens out and leaves the viewer with a palpable sense of dissatisfaction. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshDec 22, 2016
The biggest problem with Why Him? though, isn’t him, it’s her. Stephanie is so underwritten that even though these men are competing ruthlessly over her, she drops out of the story completely. She’s the center of attention, but she’s a void. That’s not the fault of the winsome Deutch. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshDec 22, 2016
The biggest problem with Why Him? though, isn't him, it's her. Stephanie is so underwritten, that though these men are competing ruthlessly over her, she drops out of the story completely. She's the center of attention, but she's a void. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithDec 20, 2016
There is a passable 85-minute comedy in here, caked in an additional 30 minutes of flab. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyDarren FranichDec 20, 2016
It all works in theory. But the execution’s off. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerDec 19, 2016
Hamburg springs some surprises, albeit secondhand ones. More often, he calls his shots from a mile away. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschDec 12, 2016
Almost nothing anyone does registers as recognizably human; it’s all just a pretext for yet another round of envelope-pushing outrageousness. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoDec 12, 2016
Why Him? plays a fairly one-note game that gets tiresome halfway through, which is sadly still better than most comedies put out this year. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 23, 2016
Hamburg’s always reaching for poo-based humour in his more desperate moments. Read full review
40
Time OutGuy LodgeDec 14, 2016
There might have been a thorny dark comedy in this chauvinistic pissing contest. But in trying to get us to like both opponents, the film undercuts most of its sharpest comic potential, leaving us instead with musty jokes. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireDec 20, 2016
It goes soft and nice and wants us to care about these characters who barely resemble human beings. After all, it’s Christmas. But everyone involved here should have asked Santa for a stronger script. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 12, 2016
It’s fair if not entirely accurate to say everything funny it you can see in the trailers and TV ads for Why Him? Because those samples aren’t the least big amusing, and there is a random laugh or three in this holiday comedy to put the “R” back in Christmas. Read full review
25
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenDec 22, 2016
What say we tiptoe quietly away and pretend this movie never happened? Read full review
25
Washington PostAlan ZilbermanDec 22, 2016
Despite flashes of brilliance, Why Him? is perfunctory and boorish, the sort of film that already has begun to fade from memory before you’re too annoyed by it. Read full review
25
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeDec 12, 2016
Why Him? is the kind of movie that makes trendy sophistication and homespun values look equally unattractive; the only remaining alternative is anarchy, an ingredient that’s sadly lacking in this bland, formulaic comedy. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)Andrew LapinDec 20, 2016
Wealth does not confer decency and should not excuse noxious behavior, and it is not a replacement for a soul. But it is, apparently, the final answer to the question in the movie's title. Read full review
10
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisDec 22, 2016
Why Him? is trite, crass and insultingly moronic. Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 21, 2016
Why Him? takes a comic situation and then does everything it can to undermine it. It’s more than unfunny. It’s anti-funny. It doesn’t provoke laughter or even neutral silence, but an increasingly stunned disdain. It is the movie equivalent of putting on a plaster life mask and letting it dry and lock your face into an expression of blank misery. Read full review
0
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 20, 2016
Not funny, not funny, not funny, not funny, not funny. Read full review
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