Close to Home
CBS | Release Date: October 4, 2005
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
New York PostAdam Buckman
Season 1 Review: Women -- especially young mothers juggling responsibilities at home and the office — will find much with which to identify in the story of Annabeth. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: It's well cast, well executed and solidly competent across the board. But exciting, it's not. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Better than average. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: The show isn't a terrific one, but its working-mom protagonist, and its element of "Blue Velvet"-style suburban creepiness, might well find a very receptive and loyal audience for this CBS drama. Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom Gliatto
Season 1 Review: Finnigan's performance dovetails perfectly with Close's neat if heavy- handed dramatic concept. [17 Oct 2005, p.39]
60
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: Those still smarting over [Judging Amy's] cancellation may take a while to warm up to the way "Close to Home" wraps justice in a small fuzzy blanket. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: "Close to Home" lives up and down to its title -- staying very close to what's worked for CBS before. Read full review
60
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: It's a contrived product, but the storytelling reveals the cases and their solutions nicely, if straightforwardly. Read full review
60
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: Close to Home is supposed to be playing on the dark-underbelly-of-the-burbs fascination supposedly stirred by Desperate Housewives. But it's basically just another lawyer/crime show with a mommy twist. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: It is instructive to observe how working woman's guilt plays out in a postfeminist era when having it all is considered a privilege, not a right. Read full review
60
PopMattersCynthia Fuchs
Season 1 Review: [The show has] married the procedural to melodrama, with occasionally intriguing results. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: What would otherwise be a tedious collection of working-mom and lawyer-show clichés is saved by an excellent cast. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: The trouble with this drama is that it doesn't veer much from the often dark tone of the other procedurals from the Bruckheimer TV factory. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyAlynda Wheat
Season 1 Review: Home isn't a bad show--it's just bad-intentioned. [7 Oct 2005, p.64]
40
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: Finnigan, who was so right in NBC's loopy comedy "Committed," lacks the heft for the role of the no-nonsense prosecutor. Not that, as written, the role would be easy for anyone. It requires Annabeth to be a vigorous and energetic protagonist and, simultaneously, a weepy young mother with postpartum blues. Read full review
40
NewsdayDiane Werts
Season 1 Review: This canned stew is further flavored with too-snappy comebacks, too-slick repartee and too-clever contrivances. Making it bearable are cast members who do somehow manage to seem like people next door. Read full review
40
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: A pedestrian, predictable crime procedural. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: A production that tends to make everything look artificial, that freezes the air between the characters and keeps them distant. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: It can't be this much like glorified Lifetime every week, can it? Read full review
25
Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
Season 1 Review: Crusading criminal prosecutor Annabeth Chase... [is] the most irritating lead character on any new drama series this fall. Read full review
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