Focus Features

Los Angeles Times

Funny, smart and overflowing with love. Thoroughly entertaining. Between peerless performances, lyrical direction and an adventurous script, this is the sort of pleasingly grown-up fare all too rare.

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Entertainment Weekly

Grade A. Funny, smart, and sexy. Irresistible. This pitch perfect movie charms audiences into a state of enlightenment. Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, and Mark Ruffalo at the top of their games.  

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The New York Times

One of the year’s best pictures. A generous, nearly note-perfect portrait of a modern family. With characters who are as honest as the movie’s Los Angeles locations. Exquisitely played by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. Mark Ruffalo, as excellent as the rest of the cast. Director Lisa Cholodenko’s best work yet.

The Wall Street Journal

One of the best movies of the year. Played to perfection by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. This film has subtexts that enhance every scene between the two women—unspoken anxieties, insecurities, vulnerabilities. Josh Hutcherson and Mia Wasikowska give a matched set of fine performances. At a time when a single magical moment is enough to make a movie exceptional, this movie has several. A terrific film.

Associated Press

Annette Bening dominates a film loaded with terrific performances, embodying a woman whose ice-queen exterior conceals a soft, vulnerable center that she reveals between bouts of piercing, often hilarious preaching and griping. Julianne Moore’s performance is fearless and moving. Mark Ruffalo shows off new levels of depth.

The New York Times

Outrageously funny. The best comedy about an American family since ...Since what? Precedents and grounds for comparison seem to be lacking, so I may have to let the superlative stand unqualified for now. So canny in its insights and so agile in its negotiation of complex emotions that it deserves to stand on its own. The performances are all close to perfect.

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Chicago Tribune

★★★★.  My favorite American film of the year so far. A triumph.

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Vogue

One of the finest portraits of married life in modern American movies. Funny and touching– Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, and Josh Hutcherson, have rarely, if ever, been better. Working with co-writer Stuart Blumberg, director & co-writer Lisa Cholodenko casts a keen yet generous eye on her all-too-human characters, capturing both their self-absorption and sweetness, their declarations of independence and cries for help.

USA Today

Highly entertaining. Everything about this film rings true. This gem features five topnotch, multidimensional performances in one of this summer's most engaging films. Annette Bening gives an Oscar-caliber performance. Julianne Moore is excellent. Mark Ruffalo shows his depth in a pitch-perfect performance.

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Time

A perfectly observed, sexy study of a modern American family. The best acted movie of the year. Director & co-writer Lisa Cholodenko takes this family on a bumpy ride—but it’s completely organic and true. We feel as though we’re present and participating in every mistake and misstep and, ultimately, the touching journey back. Annette Bening is sublimely prickly yet always sympathetic. Julianne Moore is enchanting.