Clear History
HBO | Release Date: August 10, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
New York PostLinda StasiAug 5, 2013
Season 1 Review: Clear History is so funny it made me want to order up some Palestinian chicken. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyAug 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: A memorable comedy about a man trying to be forgotten. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalDorothy RabinowitzAug 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: A wonderfully diverting film with Mr. David at his abrasive best. Read full review
75
HitfixAlan SepinwallAug 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Clear History purports to have a real plot. But the movie also feels at time like an extended all-star jam episode of "Curb." Those are, perhaps not coincidentally, the best, and funniest parts of Clear History. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandAug 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Clear History single-handedly rehabilitates the word "derivative," as long as the source material you're reworking is anything Larry David writes and stars in. Read full review
70
Denver PostJoanne OstrowAug 12, 2013
Season 1 Review: For better and worse, it feels like an extended version of a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydAug 12, 2013
Season 1 Review: It plays in many ways like a leisurely, bucolic version of "Curb," with a larger cast of characters and something like a "journey" for the main character. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterAllison KeeneAug 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: With its seaside setting and lighthearted fun, Clear History is a kind of pleasant, late-summer gazpacho, enjoyed to the sounds of Chicago and debates about whether there is a racial preference between black and white dwarves. Read full review
70
Washington PostHank StueverAug 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: There’s not a lot of plot to be had here, and the news that Clear History leaned heavily on the improvisational impulses of its cast might usually ward off the improv-weary. But Clear History has a nice, confident and well-edited breeze to it (including a lot of jokes about the band Chicago), with a fun cast that includes standout riffs from Michael Keaton, Danny McBride and Eva Mendes. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenAug 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: HBO's Clear History, a cable movie that plays very much like an overlong episode of "Curb." Read full review
67
Uncle BarkyEd BarkAug 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Clear History is amusing enough to pull a viewer through it, although those who haven’t yet acquired a taste for Curb might find it the equivalent of a pricey two-drink minimum without enough payback. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyMelissa MaerzAug 5, 2013
Season 1 Review: The humor's not as sharp as Curbed--one bit finds Nathan wondering if waitresses should really wipe down tables with rags, since they're dirty--and the cameos feel gratuitous. Only JB Smoove earns his screen time. [9 Aug 2013, p.73] Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom GliattoAug 5, 2013
Season 1 Review: A revenge farce that takes such perplexingly arbitrary turns that it finally sits down like a confused Labrador and refuses to budge. [12 Aug 2013]
60
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushAug 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: A perverse parable of envy and misfortune that loses some steam as it turns into a wacky but predictable revenge caper that you know can't end well. Read full review
60
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandAug 8, 2013
Season 1 Review: Despite a number of funny lines sprinkled through the script, this History isn't very memorable. It seems more like Larry David's What I Did on My Summer Vacation project. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian LowryAug 7, 2013
Season 1 Review: While it’s fun to see the band Chicago drawn into a subplot about the sexual history of Nathan’s ex (Amy Ryan)--or savor an in-joke playing off the name of HBO CEO Richard Plepler--even some of those intricately woven gags feel like a bit of a distraction. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertAug 9, 2013
Season 1 Review: It all feels like “Curb”-cutting-room-floor material set atop a feeble plotline and a group of unrealized and disposable supporting performances. Clear History is pretty, pretty average. Read full review
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